Knight in a World of Bloody Evolution
by Harbinger-of-script
Summary: The blood of Heroes flows through his veins, but he knows not. The blood of Kings flows through his veins, but he knows not. The blood of Villains coat his hands, but he cares not. The death of Allies weighs his soul, but he forgets not. He is the Knight, Forged in Fire, Raised in War, Tempered by Death, Quenched in Blood. He is the Knight of this World of Bloody Evolution - Reborn
1. Prologue

**This is my first, and pry last, foray into the world of RWBY. I have designed this story, and worked on it, for a few weeks now. As a heads up, I have not watched much of the show, being far too busy with other means to actually sit down and enjoy any sort of entertainment apart from reading. Thus we get to where most of my understanding of Rwby comes from. I have read roughly three hundred stories from the fandom, watched a few videos, and visited the wiki/fandom pages a few hundred times in an effort to make this idea of mine a canonically working piece of literature, and not some wet dream that was hatefucked into existence. **

**As such, I have a few things to get out there.**

**This story is going to be unlike any of the stories I have written before. I have never written any sort of Harem, romance, thing and made it work. I tried for a romance, once, and it shot itself so hard in the face that an OC became the MC's love interest instead of the intended character.**

**Now, Jaune Arc. I've read many stories about him, like, a hundred plus, and found him to be a rather interesting character; not only for his incredible prodigy level skill retention but also for what makes up his character. In this story his home life will be different, markedly so, though he will still have the same number of siblings, all of them will be younger than him, many by a few years.**

**Another thing, there will be an immense change to how Beacon will handle Jaune's year group, as it will be, by far, the largest the school will have ever gotten in almost a decade. The last major change is that there will be a cadre of OC's that will infest the later parts of this story, new factions, and new enemies will crop up the longer Jaune and his allies fight against Salem and the Grim AND the god/goddess of Darkness. **

**One particular OC will be an SI of myself with only a few of my personal skills embedded within the character. As such, he will take on a different role throughout the story. He does have foreknowledge of the Rwby universe, as he is me, and will contribute to much of the story. The kicker here is that this is a Jaune Arc story. Everything, EVERYTHING, revolves around Jaune nad his interactions with other people and how he deals with new situations. The SI is a mentor figure that will fade with time and only show up when needed once more to further the plot of the story.**

* * *

**Prologue**

**Late January**

**Ansel Forest**

**Night**

* * *

Fifteen-year-old Jaune Arc trudged through the forests next to Ansel his anger fueled his steps and his rage warmed his soul.

"If they think I'm not worth the effort to train now, then what was the point of telling me to wait!" Jaune growled with unrelenting rage. How could his Father simply tell him to give up on his dream, forget to be a Huntsman, A Hero, for the people! What was the point of having him wait another year, a month, a day, when they were going to tell him to give up in the first place!

"RHAGH!" Jaune swung Crocea Mors and struck a tree. He did not notice what he had done, but the massive gouge in the side of the tree lent itself to his strength and the strength of his families sword.

"I!" crack "AM!" crack "STRONG!" thunk-crack "ENOUGH!" Sn-sn-snap! The tree snapped and slowly fell to the forest floor, red leaves scattered and wood splintered everywhere.

Jaune reversed his grip on the sword and flung it like a javelin at another tree, some twenty feet away. The blade sunk halfway into the tree and twanged pleasantly in the evening air. Jaune stalked over, heated breath fumed from his nostrils as he glared at the offending tree holding his sword.

He balled his fists and with a mighty roar, he began to pummel the unsuspecting ever-red. Thud-thud-th-th-th-th-th-th-thud, crack-thudthudthudthudthud. His knuckles bled and his bones creaked, but even as he broke apart bark, wood, and tore strips from the tree, his hands never broke. His anger fueled his rage and his rage-fueled his anger. A never-ending loop of loathing for the thing that sat before him. His fingers tore at fibers ripped them from their holdings and soon enough that tree too fell like the one before it. Crocea Mors fell into his hands once he was done pummeling the massive tree.

"You have the strength," A voice called out from behind him. "But you don't have a lick of skill to hone it against. Your anger controls you-" Crocea Mors went sailing over the person's head, "and you don't think straight." Jaune glared balefully at the man before him, dressed in simple jeans and a T-shirt with some running shoes he was almost as tall as Jaune.

"What the hell do you want Jehoshua, I'm not in the mood for more snide remarks!"

"You're right, you're not. But you need to clear your head before you hurt yourself or others. No need to almost kill your younger sisters when they simply want to make sure you're okay." Jehoshua motioned over his shoulder at a rustling bush, where Crocea Mors had landed just in front of. Two little heads popped out both wide and alarmed by the ferocity their brother had exerted before them. Almost being hit with his weapon, even though an accident, made them slightly fearful of him.

"Amber, Topaz," Jaune calmed instantly and fell to a knee. He held out his hand and gestured for them to come forth. A moment later they did, Amber crashed against his left side while Topaz slung herself around his neck in a life siphoning hug. A snort from Jehoshua told him all he needed to know of how it looked, a simple gesture told the other man how much Jaune thought of his amusement.

"If you're here to simply make fun of me and pull me to task about my Family, then I humbly ask that you find a cliff and see how long it takes to find the bottom. I suggest jumping," Jaune wheezed out while topaz did everything in her power to squeeze the life out of him. Amber tightened her grip on his side and squeezed his ribs, also making it hard to breathe.

"Girls," Jaune hushed them as the softly sobbed into his shirt, "you need to go back home, Mom and Dad will be worried for you. Please, don't make them worry too much about you."

"They're safer here, at the moment, Jaune. I'm not leaving you here by yourself, and your sisters aren't going back on their own and I know you have no wish to see your parents right now either. So here is the best place for them." Jehoshua grumbled. Jaune shot him a hard look but relented easily enough; once he thought about it.

"Besides, what would they think if you had them go home before I could properly show you how to hold that damn butter knife you call a sword." Jaune bristled at that, along with his sisters though not as much as him. Jaune pried them from his body and gently pushed them down so he could stand once more. He glared into Jehoshua's hazel eyes and grit his teeth.

"You know what, fine, you want a fight, I'm willing to give you one!" The sheath on Jaune's hip came off and quickly shifted into a heater shield with his families crest on it, a gold crescent moon inside another gold crescent moon. The girls ran off behind Jehoshua and took cover behind a large log. Topaz, however, took notice of Jaune's sword and retrieves it for him.

"Jaune!" The little six years old yelled, "Catch!" The blue wrapped handle spun end over end through the air towards Jaune. The angry teen yelped in surprise at the throw and quickly dodged the half-hazard toss so not to be skewered by the surprise projectile. Jehoshua grunted a laugh and pulled out his own sword, a bastard two-handed sword. 62.5inches long. The massive weapon sat comfortably in a single hand or could be wielded effectively two-handed. Jehoshua wielded it single-handedly and drew a dagger with a fat blade for his off-hand.

With their weapons drawn, or near enough to them to be considered such, the lesson began.

Jehoshua strode forward with his bastard sword at his side, tip pointed towards the earth while Jaune charged forward. With Crocea Mors held up and off towards his side and his shield faced towards his opponent, Jaune roared his challenge. Three strides from Jaune and he was halfway there. Three strides from Jehoshua and he was already within Jaune's guard, fist smacking him across the face while his bastard sword had already bashed his shield aside. Jaune staggered back from the dizzying blow and brought his shield up.

It was just enough to ward off the next strike from Jehoshua, a devastating eleven-o'clock swing at his shoulder. The shield was moved aside again, but Jaune brought his sword around and wildly deflected the stab aimed for his stomach.

Jehoshua stepped towards him again and used the flat of his sword to smack his face, where he then brought the blade up and then down upon his unprotected shoulder. Jaune cried out in pain as the blade bit into his skin and crew blood.

"Keep that shield up!" Jehoshua ordered. The older man yanked the blade out of Jaune's shoulder and readied for another strike. Jaune saw this but disregarded it in favor of stabbing at his opponents unprotected gut.

Jehoshua saw this and grinned. He stepped back, out of range of the stab and brought his sword down and about to smash the boy's blade aside. Jaune kept his grip however and used the momentum, subconsciously though it was, to twist around and strike at the older man's arms.

With a surprised yelp, Jehoshua let go with his stricken arm and brought it to his side. A quick look told him that it was merely a flesh wound, nothing sinister. He evaded the next lung and then swept Jaune's feet out from under him with a sweeping kick. The boy landed on his side but rolled to his knees and swiped at Jehoshua's knees. He stepped back, out of Jaune's arc and gripped his sword with both hands once more. He brought the sword around and smashed it against Jaune's shield, which sent the youth tumbling to the side. Jaune groaned in pain and laid there for a moment.

"Lesson one, that shield of yours." Jehoshua coughed when dust from there bout got in his face. "That shield is far more important than simply blocking shots. Its also a weapon."

Jaune looked up at him with understanding and a bit of disdain. "How can it do anything if it's stuck to my arm?" Jaune groaned as he forced himself to his feet.

"_IF_ you get in a fight with another person, that shield of yours is fantastic at bashing their face in. Disorienting your foe and then cutting them to ribbons is the fastest way, and most often the easiest way, of getting rid of your enemies in close combat. Think of it as a Flash-bang going off in their face, that's essentially what a shield to the face is." Jaune's glare died down and his face sunk towards the floor. Topaz and Amber peaked over the log. When they saw that the fight was over they clambered over the log and barreled over and into Jaune. The teen yelped, Jaune tossed his sword to the side so not to accidentally hurt one of his sisters and made sure that his shield didn't collide with them either.

"Stabs are good, but blindly thrusting your blade at someone, even someone without a secondary or a shield to block with, is stupidity in motion. Every strike must be measured, ever step calculated, every motion thought out, and everything you do must be towards your goal."

"Those are some cool words and all, but what are you going to do about it?" Jaune asked from the ground as he looked up at Jehoshua.

"I'm going to train you, as I said. Every night. I will be bringing you here with a single meal from town and we will be fighting until you no longer can. I know your dream is to become a Huntsman and be a Hero of the people. But, if you are unable to train, to become stronger, then you will fail. If not now, then later, and people will die. I have met those like you before, whose goals and convictions are strong enough to see them through."

Jaune lost his heated gaze and looked off to the side while his sisters climbed all over him in an effort to bandage his wounds.

"Most times they fail, but those that don't, fall into one of two categories. Those that succeed without loss, and those that lose everything in the pursuit of their dream. I've seen both become good and I've seen both become twisted in time."

"What do you see in me then, oh mighty one?" Jaune snarked with a scowl on his face. There was no heat in his voice, the rage from before had left him now as his sisters cared for him.

"I see you becoming a great fighter, Jaune. Greater than some of my own people's fighters. I have not seen a man, here or otherwise, cut through a tree with the ease that you have. But you are untrained, blunted, without focus."

Jaune's gaze snapped to Jehoshua's face and an unreadable expression came over him.

"With the right training, however, I see you becoming greater than the Spartans, more feared than the Deathless, stronger than Heracles, Faster than Hermes, and deadlier than Anubis. Your family is a long history of Knights, Jaune Arc of Ansel, son of Nicholas and Juniper. I have seen, and fought, many Knights where I'm from and beaten most of them."

Jehoshua sheathed his sword and walked over to Jaune. He outstretched his hand and looked into the eyes of the youth.

"Take my hand, Jaune Arc, and you shall be molded into the best Knight this world has ever seen, or will ever see again." Jehoshua stared into his blue eyes and waited for the teen to take his hand.

"Will you make me strong?" Jaune asked, "Will you make me fast?"

"I will make you the best you could be, and then… Then we will see," The look in Jehoshua's eyes cinched it for the youth. Jaune reached out and latched onto Jehoshua's offered hand like it was the hand of God come to save him from drowning. With a single tug, Jaune was hoisted to his feet, along with his sisters. Jehoshua grinned unabashedly at his new pupil and moved to sling the youths arm over his head.

"Come on you two, let's get your brother home and cleaned up, Juniper is going to be pissed, and Nicholas will be livid."

Jaune gulped at the older man's words and his two sisters cried out their own despair at having to deal with their irate mother. Jehoshua chuckled at them and lead them home.

Thus began the tale of a Knight in this Bloody World of Evolution.

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**Please, review, comment, and Pm me with your views on the story. If anyone wants to talk to me directly without all the hassle of Ffnet being a pain my Discord Channel is thus: **** /n6ewUa9**

**Updates will be erratic, but there will be updates, at least, once a month. I hope you all have enjoyed the beginning of a new adventure for Jaune, and the trials and tribulations he will be faced with.**

**Harbinger signing off...!**


	2. Chapter 1: Beginning Arc

**In this chapter we see some of Jaune's training regime with jehoshua, and his interactions with some of the other cast of KiaWoBE. We see the other relationships he has with his family and how others view him.**

**If there is anything you see that you would like a better understanding of, just let me know. Depending on what it is I might just write up a whole chapter on it for the story.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Beginning Arc**

**Late January**

**Fortress City – Ansel**

**Late Afternoon**

**One Week After Prologue**

* * *

"Feel the weight of your sword, Arc. It's not going to bite you!" Jehoshua snapped while Jaune swung his sword at a training dummy the older man had made.

"It's heavy!" I huffed. I brought the training sword over my head and swung it down at the dummies head. The metal bucket, that was being used to simulate a person's head, dented upon contact and rebound the sword back at me. I yelped in surprise and tried to regain control of the blade.

"You swing around a 5-pound sword! Something that weighs three times that should be simple for you!" I grumbled under my breath at his instructions.

"What's the purpose of this!" I cried while swinging at the dummy. Chips wood ricochet and hit my bare arms and chest, sometimes embedding in my skin, other times simply cutting me or glancing off.

"If you have to question that then _I_ need to question your intelligence!" Jehoshua snarked back. I fumed at his snark but went back to swinging. No point in getting my Tormentor, I mean instructor, mad at me.

Jehoshua has been a strict teacher, never letting anything I do go without a lesson. Eating? Turn it into etiquette lessons. Sitting down? Posture and poise. Standing? Same thing! Running? Proper form and endurance! Sword fighting? Takes away Crocea Mors and hands me this monstrosity of a blade that weighs almost twenty pounds and tells me to swing at a dummy until my arms cannot hold the thing anymore!

"I hate you!" I murmur-yelled. I heard Jehoshua cackle behind me and a moment later I felt something hit my back. I hissed at the pain and looked down to see a large rock, about the size of my fist, roll past me.

"Pain is apart of training! You must now dodge these projectiles while trying to land whatever blow it is I call out. We begin – Now!" Jehoshua let loose another rock that impacted against my shoulder, sending pain and numbness down my arm to my hand. I almost dropped the blasted sword but kept hold of it as another one rocketed past my head.

"Left leg!"

I swung down and stepped to the right. A rock impacted my elbow and I felt something crack underneath. I snapped off a curse and kept going.

"Right shoulder, left arm!" three rocks sang when they flew past my head, A fourth one I didn't hear impacted with my hand just as I swung at the shoulder.

"FUCK!" I gripped the sword harder, but I felt one of my fingers loosen its grip. I snarled and cut into the wood where the shoulder should have been and then brought the blade around the slice at the left arm. I almost missed, but a rock hitting my back forced my forwards just enough to actually hit my target. I danced around the dummy and let a trio of rocks glance off it.

"Helmet, Left Wrist, Right foot!" A rock flew past the helmet and glanced off my head, just above my left eye. I felt it cut the skin and something wet slid down my face. I yelped and then let out a snarl worthy of a Beowolf. With a spin and a side step to avoid another rock, I stepped around the dummy and smashed the helmet in. I ducked around another rock and cracked the blade across the dummies wrist and then swept low to crush its ankle. I felt more rocks pelt my side and I rolled out of the way just in time to avoid one flying at my head. The rock impacted the dirt and a small puff of dirt flew up where it hit. I snarled and rolled to the side. My body hurt, my hands ached, I'm pretty sure I had broken a few bones, and my back was bleeding all over, not to mention the wound above my eye.

"Gut! Spine! DECAPITATION!" Jehoshua roared. From there, an endless stream of rocks barreled at me and pelted everything. One hit my chin, splitting it open, another cut my lip. Three I felt hit my ribs and I heard something crack. One hit my knee and I _felt_ something shift where it shouldn't have.

I howled my pain and kept standing. I swung, from hip to shoulder, and tore apart the thin metal plate that covered the dummies front. I rolled around to the back, landed on my bad knee, and shoved my sword into the dummies back, right along the post the simulated its spine, and right through the metal plate. I stood up in a fury and cleaved the head right off the dummy with a baseball swing.

The metal bucket and the wood inside went sailing for a few dozen feet before landing and rolling another yard or so. The rocks stopped flying, the sword in my hand no longer felt like a lead weight, and my aches and pains seemed to dull down a bit.

"That was excellent work Jaune." Jehoshua praised as he came down from the hill he had been standing on. "Let's get you back to town and taken care of."

"My parents are going to freak," I huffed. My anger at Jehoshua had simmered down and was now only a slight loathing. His teaching might be a fucking nightmare, but I could tell that I was stronger already. Fifteen pounds no longer felt like much and all the hits I took no longer felt all that lethal.

"What they don't know won't hurt them. There's a healer I know in town that agreed to help out. She has a special technique that will boost your healing by a factor of ten, at the least. And has nothing to do with getting your aura unlocked just an FYI."

I glared at him for that. He knew that I wanted my Aura unlocked, have wanted it unlocked for a while now, but he kept denying me. I know he had a reason, but I had no idea what it was.

"Once you're strong enough, then we will have it unlocked."

That's what he would say. After every single practice, or whenever I brought it up, he would tell me that exact line. Always, once I was stronger. Never why, just that I needed to be stronger.

* * *

**Ansel – Apothecary**

**Evening**

* * *

Jehoshua helped the weakened and wounded Jaune into the city under the watchful eyes of the City guard. After three months of living in the city, the guards had become used to Jehoshua going out on his own into the surrounding forests. Always alone, always with his archaic weapons, and always coming back with the barest of scratches and more dents on his weapons than should be tolerated.

The two swordsmen trundled along and stumbled into the Apothecary with a huff. Jaune grumbled about old people being assholes while Jehoshua laughed off his words with ease. The woman behind the counter, Ember Rain, watched with amused concern.

She had treated the least obvious injuries that Jehoshua had gotten while outside the walls of Ansel, but the injuries that she saw on the Arc boy were far beyond what she was used to. They were within her talents to heal, but just not what she was used to.

"So, what happened this time, Tiger?" Ember asked the older man. His hazel eyes flicked up and caught her's with an intensity that made the young woman gasp quietly. A slight flush crept up upon her cheeks, but she did nothing to fight it.

"Just some training injuries, that's all," Jehoshua smiled pleasantly and patted Jaune heavily on the shoulder. The young man flinched and growled at his teacher.

"I hate you so much right now," Jaune groaned as the pain overtook him again.

"Would you be a dear, Ember, and take care of him for me? I'll get you a pie from Sylvester's later if you'd like?"

Sylvester's Bakery, it was one of the best sweet shops in Ansel, and Embers favorite. The young woman grinned and blushed prettily at the idea of getting such a gift. He was just able to hold back a groan of hidden pleasure at the thought of their pies.

"Make it a cream pie and sure!" She grinned.

"Deal!" Jehoshua maneuvered Jaune over and onto a table which Ember had cleared. She put the poultices and potions on the counter behind it and grabbed her instruments and remedies. A few pain killers and several antiseptics.

"This will sting Mr. Arc, please, don't flinch too much," Ember gently eased a needle into the skin around one of Jaune's more major injuries and injected a numbing agent before she went to work.

"I'll be right here kid," Jehoshua said. The older man sat down in a chair opposite from Jaune and watched as the young woman went to work on his student. Jaune stared at Jehoshua and eventually fell asleep while Ember worked on him.

* * *

**3 Hours Later**

**Night**

* * *

"I'll take him home, he needs the rest and I'll be able to deal with his parents in his stead."

"Just make sure he doesn't stress those stitches till Friday. He needs the rest," Ember smiled gently at the sleeping young man. She waved as Jehoshua walked out with Jaune carried on his back. The older man waved back and walked out into the city. The street lights lit him up every so often as he walked but soon enough he was out of sight and off towards the Arc residence.

* * *

**Arc residence**

**Jaune's Room**

* * *

Jehoshua brought Jaune home on his back and knocked on the door. Aurora answered and brightened up once she saw who it was.

"Evening Mister Gheorghe!" She beamed. The older man smiled down at her with an easy smile that seemed to put anyone at ease.

"Are your parent's home?" Jehoshua asked.

"Dad's at work, but Mom's in the kitchen."

"Thank you Aurora," Jehoshua took a step inside and Aurora got out of his way. She saw the battered form of her brother and gasped. "Its okay, Jaune just fell down at the park. I've already gotten him looked at and everything, he just needs a few nights rest and he will be right as rain!" Jehoshua smiled brightly at the young girl. Amethyst, Jaune and Aurora's younger sister, age 14, ran down the hall to his left and almost bowled the man over.

"I heard Jaune was home! Is he here!?" She asked, looking all but like a mangy wolf in search of its prey.

"Aye, lass, he's here. Just a bit dinged up. He needs his rest and he will be able to play with you again soon. I just need you and your sister to take him to bed and get him all situated while I have a word with your mother. Is that okay?" he asked them. The two girls nodded their heads furiously and dragged Jaune off to bed between them, Jaune's upper half in Aurora's arms while his lower half was cradled by Amethyst.

Jehoshua watched the two girls drag their brother off towards his room. He smiled sadly at the sight, having not seen his own siblings in many months still. And knowing, even then, that he would never see them again until his death.

The young man of twenty-five walked through the house, down the hall from the entryway, and straight into the kitchen. It was there that he saw the Arc Matriarch making dinner for her brood and humming happily.

"Mrs, Arc," Jehoshua intoned respectfully. The woman jumped a bit at the sudden intrusion and spun around with a vegetable knife in hand. Jehoshua almost had to dodge the thrown weapon but the Mother of eight caught herself before she made such a mistake.

"Dammit, Jeje! What the hell do you think you're doing, sneaking up on me like that!" Juniper arc scolded the man.

"Sorry, June, didn't mean to scare you," Jehoshua smirked as a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

"So, what brings you here, I thought you and Jaune were hanging out at the park?" Juniper turned back to her task of cutting vegetables while listening to him.

"We were. But, something happened. While Jaune and I were taking a walk through one of the old trails in the park he slipped and took a nasty fall," Jehoshua struck out a hand to stop her from running off. "Just a second! Let me finish, Jaune is fine. He's a little banged up, broke his arm on a rock when he fell, but I got him to a doctor I met in town. She got him all patched up and put a cast on him. The only charge is I have to take her out for dinner this Monday."

"My baby," Juniper moaned with irate-exasperation and worry. "You're a godsend Jehoshua, I don't know what I would have done if Jaune had been left there like that."

"It's alright, He's in his room now. The Doc said that he should stay in bed for a few days, rest up and drink lots of fluids and soft foods until he gets his strength back. He might be all healed up sometime next week or so, he is your son after all," Jehoshua shot Juniper a look that told her he knew Jaune's peculiar healing ability. How it gave the boy a better healing factor than even some fresh Hunters.

"Many thanks, Jehoshua. I'll go check on him in a minute, I but his sisters are bugging him about it right now," Juniper shook her head at the absurdity of her children being more mothering than her.

Jehoshua hid a grimace, he knew why they were like that. For all the love Juniper gave her children, she was a harsh parent and demanded total obedience from her children. She still did not see her son as a growing boy, and more the first and only son she would ever have. She was stricter with him than he had ever seen from even some of the abusively strict parents back home. She was nowhere near as bad as Nicholas though, not by a long shot.

The number of bruises he had seen on Jaune after some of his fights with his father were terrible. Some were as big as his arm. Others had his whole side covered in a deep purple that made one wonder how none of his bones hadn't been broken.

Jehoshua thundered within his mind over the fact that Child Protective Services did not exist in Ansel, or even in much of Remnant. The number of complaints he would have foisted upon the Arcs would have drowned a legal attorney a hundred times over.

"I shall leave Jaune in your care, June, I'll see you and Nick later!" Jehoshua waltzed right out of the house. He paid no mind to the words Juniper Arc threw at him as he left, never wanting to spend much time with the abusive, extremist, sexist, pricks that they were.

Jehoshua may have been conservative where he was from, but some people just take that shit too far.

"Cold day in hell when I agree with Nick and June on anything," Jehoshua grumbled once he was far enough from the property. "I just hope Jaune and his sisters can outlive their idiocy." With that final thought, Jehoshua walked home.

* * *

Jehoshua sat at his kitchen table and idly toyed with a small data stick he had procured from a small retail store. He sighed and put it down. His face took on a stony expression and he ran a hand through his hair.

"Jaune's not ready for sword etiquette… His strength is fine, but it could be better. He needs discipline, and teaching that to him before he's even strong enough to cut through Grimm will be a serious pain. He needs… He needs a lot of things," Jehoshua sighed and laid his head against the tabletop. "So much work… Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Speed, Reflexes, Perception… All these need training… He can be a great fighter, I can see it!" He muttered to himself fiercely, his head came up and he banged his fists against the table. "I just need to go about this a different way..."

"He needs weapons, until its time to get to Beacon… He needs better armor… He needs to know … So much… I don't have enough time…," Jehoshua shoved his palms into his eyes and rubbed furiously at them. "FUCK!"

"I need to get him stronger, that s a given. He needs to be faster, more perceptive. I need to make sure that he can hold his own… Whatever advantage I can give him without screwing over his future is for the best. If he can keep them from..." His voice trailed off and he got up. He turned off the light and slowly meandered into his bedroom where he undressed and got in bed.

He muttered a few words, unintelligible words at that, and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 2: Training and Family Troubles

**Things get a little dark in this chapter at the end, and a little darker in the next. Things will pick up, but this is important for how I'm going to be building Jaune's psyche later on... It will all build into how he views relationships and romance later in life, so please, be patient and understand, I actually know what I'm doing here.**

**If there is anything that is not explained well enough for your liking, please let me know. I am creating a Vid-Doc Omake series that will be released canonically later in the story. Things that are not explained properly in Jaune's eyes in the main story can be later expounded upon with the Vid-Docs, or a full chapter if that is what is needed. So please, all suggestions are welcome, even if they are flames. I care not. The more I have to work with, the better this story will be.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Ridiculous Training habits and Family troubles**

**End of January**

**Ansel Forest**

**Friday Morning**

* * *

Jehoshua handed me a new training sword, a twenty-pound monstrosity, and pointed at a tree.

"You are to swing at that tree until your arms sag and you can't lift them anymore." And that's what I did.

I picked up the heavy fucker and went to work. Each swing dented the surface of the tree, but did nothing else for the first half-hour. After that, my joints started to ache and my hands began to sweat, but I didn't let the sword waver as I kept at it.

Forty-five minutes in and a chunk of wood flew from the tree, about the size of my palm, and landed next to me. I ignored it and kept swinging. My fingers began to go numb, but I didn't let go. I would go farther than his orders! I would surpass them! If I had to I would cut down this tree! Blunted blade or not I was going to keep going until that tree was felled and I was working on the next!

An hour had now passed by and another chunk fell from the tree. My fingers had started to blister some minutes before, but I cared little about that and just swung harder at the tree. Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right, I swung the sword. After an hour and forty-five minutes had passed I began to practice different strikes against the tree.

I noticed Jehoshua take note of this but he said nothing and simply went back to watching me swing at the tree. I thought about the disproving look my mother sent me when I walked out the door this morning and my guilt at making her mad. I put that bit of emotion into my next swing, which I had not noticed at the time but it cut deeper than the rest. I then thought about my father's disapproval for Hunters and pushed my anger at his prejudice into the next few swings.

I thought about my younger sister, Amethyst, and how she argued with mom about my choice to become a Hunter. I thought about how mom struck her for speaking out and how that made me feel. A slap across the face. Just for disagreeing with them. I pulled on that hurt, that anger, and kept it there while I thought all of my sisters; Aurora, Amethyst, Dawn, Noire, Vermilion, Topaz, and Amber. Each of them had talked with our parents and each got a similar response. Aurora was slapped for raising her voice at mom when she wouldn't even listen to what Aurora had to say. I felt horrible for my twin. Dawn and Noire were grounded for a month from seeing their friends during the summer break. Vermilion was forced to go live with Great aunt Melody for a month in Vale proper after she threw a tantrum about what mom and dad had done to Dawn and Noire. Topaz and Amber were spanked for hitting dad over Vermilion's treatment, that one I understood, but still, it rankled me.

My next series of slashes tore swatches out of the tree and almost felled it immediately. I don't know when Jehoshua moved, not even now, but it was thanks to him that I wasn't crushed by the massive tree falling on me. The older man pulled me out of the way, though I landed on my ass, and saved my life.

"That's enough, for now, Jaune, take a break. We can continue once you've cooled down some," Jehoshua smirked at me with some hidden knowledge and walked off towards his pack. I shoved the tip of my training blade into the ground, firmly, and used it as an impromptu backrest. I drew my knees up to my chest and rested my arms atop them while I stared up at the sky.

It was cloudless, as it should be for this time of year in Vale.

Suddenly there was a can of something above my head in the hand of my mentor. I stared at it for a moment before I reached up and took it, gently, from his grasp.

"Thanks…," I muttered. I looked at the side where the label was, it read '_Sunkist – Taste The Sun!_'. A clever slogan for a carbonated Orange flavored soda drink. I popped the tab and took a swig of the extremely sweet drink, the cool liquid ran down my throat and quenched my thirst, a thirst I hadn't known I worked up.

"Jaune. What do you want to be, when this is all over?" Jehoshua asked out of the blue.

"Hmm?" I looked over at him as he stared off into the distance.

"You said you wanted to be a Hunter. But, I want to know why. What is it you wish to gain out of being a Hunter?"

"I want to be a Hero. Someone who goes out, fights for the people, saves them from disaster and rights the wrongs of the world. And I want to live long enough that I see my grandchildren become greater Heroes than me."

Jehoshua hummed at my words and took a sip of his own grape-flavored drink.

"Do you think you have the ability to do that?" He asked me. "To really become a Hero of the People? To save lives, right wrongs, and live a life that does not see you becoming the villain?" The skepticism in his voice was just enough for me to not make a snap decision on what I would have said. I pondered, if but for a moment longer, what I would say.

"Right now? No. I'm not strong enough, I'm not quick enough, and I'm certainly not durable enough. A simple rock can put me out of action and fighting a Beowolf, one of the weaker Grimm, would be suicide for me at this point. But I think I can get strong enough, fast enough, and if not durable enough, then definitely armored enough to take a beating and get back up to kick some ass anyway!" I tiredly looked up at my mentor and was struck silent by his serious gaze. His eyes became flinty, darker than I had ever thought possible, and his lips became a line.

"You know your limitations, you know you're weak, for now. Good."

His words sparked a bit of anger in me but I quashed them instantly.

"The world is not kind, Jaune. It will take everything you are willing to give, and then it will take everything you're not. It has turned the most Kindhearted, most Courageous, most Brave, men I have ever known, and it has broken them across its knee and demanded more of them. It has taken their lives, their deaths, and eventually their families, from them."

I flinched at the cold look in his eyes and averted my gaze to the ground.

"You would willingly put yourself on that path, I know you would, and you would give of yourself for others in a heartbeat. I have known men who are ten times the man you are, but none with as much heart and soul." Jehoshua walked over and stood next to me, I saw his feet out of the corner of my eye. A hand came to rest on my head and I looked up at him.

"Jaune Arc… Where I'm from there was a similarly named person-"

I perked up at hearing this and stared intently up at him.

"Her name was Joan of Arc, and she was a Hero of a Nation. She died young, age nineteen, long before she could have ever had the chance to become the villain, but… She was a Hero all the same. She was not much younger than you, Jaune, when she went out to war, to fight the Hundred Years War, in matter of fact."

I gaped at the name this person had, to be so similar to my own. I gasped at her death, that she died so young. I shook in horror at what she fought, and I thought on whether or not I could do the same.

"She was then regarded as a Saint, a representative of God in human form. She is even regarded, to this day, some six hundred years later, as the Saint of Martyrs, Captives, the Military, and those looked down upon for their beliefs. She was a great woman, and her actions spoke far louder than words."

I was moved. Beyond that, I was inspired. This woman, barely older than me, fought in a war, died in her war, and was then turned into a Saint for her actions in that very same war. And I had somehow been lucky enough to share her name. I was struck speechless.

"There is a quote of hers, one that has been passed down for hundreds of years, that I have remembered. '_One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying_'. Her faith in God was astounding, her faith in the Light that dwells in people's hearts was even more so. She died for her beliefs, Jaune Arc."

I felt a quake in my soul after hearing her words pass from my mentor's lips. It was like a part of myself that I had never known existed came back to me, to make me whole. I had never felt something like that before, for it was glorious and magnificent.

I looked up into Jehoshua's eyes when he mentioned her death, that she had died for her beliefs, for her Faith. I felt something warm enter my heart and coil around it with a comforting squeeze. It was like my mother had found me and wrapped me in her warmth and forgiven me of all my wrongs and simply accepted me. I knew it wasn't so since my mother currently thought great ill of me. The only thing that I could liken it to was a Divine touch upon my soul. Such was the indescribable feeling.

"Then I will follow her footsteps. I will fight for my beliefs, go beyond the pale to protect everyone! I will be a Hero like those long before me and one for those long past to look to!" Strength flooded my limbs and I got to my feet. Strength burned inside me and a new breath of life filled my veins. I was ready for more, ready to take that leap and keep ongoing.

"That's what I wanted to hear," Jehoshua flashed me a fatherly smile and put his hand upon my shoulder. A firm squeeze and he gently pushed me towards another tree. "Use your sword, Jaune, and cut down that tree. I want you to use any maneuver you can think of to hit it, but it must be from right to left. Use only one hand to swing it as well. Switch hands every tenth swing and then go back. You will continue these instructions until you have cut it down. I will give you another exercise to complete once you are done, so don't take too long!" Jehoshua smirked at me and walked away. He pulled out a large leather-bound book of some kind and a pen. I watched him walk away and sit under a large tree. He propped the book up on his knees and went to work on whatever it was that he had in the book.

I grit my teeth, looked at the tree he had indicated, and sighed. The tree he wanted me to cut down was huge. I walked around it, just to get a sense of scale. It was thicker, from front to back, than I was tall. It was ginormous! And I had to cut this down.

With no other option than to get to work, I began my exercise.

* * *

**4 Hours Later**

**Late Morning/Almost Noon**

Jaune stared at the mighty redwood he had felled, over two hundred feet tall and as big around as an ox. The massive thing took him hours to cut, and by the end, his fingers were numb and his blisters had already begun to bleed. His arm shook and his shoulders ached, his elbows creaked and his wrists twinged involuntarily from the strain. Beside him stood Jehoshua with a thermos of cold water in hand. He offered it to the teen and smiled proudly down upon him.

"Very good Jaune, and in record time too!" Jehoshua laughed and thumped the heaving teen across the shoulders. Jaune flinched and shot the older man a glare.

"That was torture," Jaune groused. He guzzled down a good portion of the water and wiped the excess from his mouth with the back of his hand that he then wiped across his forehead. Heat radiated from the boy's exposed upper half in almost visible waves, something that stumped the older man as he had never seen the like before.

Though as no one knew that he was not from Remnant, to begin with, he simply put it up to not knowing about local physiology. He did not know how the human body worked in this new world, and he had no need to know. As long as it performed in accordance with the basic laws of physics and nature that he was used to than any oddities could be accepted and nothing would be explored.

Jaune had no idea as to the thoughts of his instructor and paid the man's vacant stare no mind. That same stare only lasted a moment before Jehoshua was back to grilling his student with instructions.

"Now, Jaune, as your arms are tired, and I know that you have the endurance to go the mile… Lets actually put that endurance to the test. Starting today, we will be running a circuit around the Town. For every week that we do this, we will be adding a circuit to our run. I will be joining you on this, understood?" Jaune blinked with wide, dilated eyes, at the prospect of actually training with his instructor, not just being told what to do and then being expected to do it.

"Of course!" Jaune shouted. He snapped off the best salute he could muster. A flimsy thing that had him smacking his fingers against his forehead to Jehoshua's amusement. The two picked up what items they had left strewn about and quickly packed them away in a ruck-sack Jehoshua had brought with them. Jaune looked at the sword he had been using and hefted its weight between his hands. He looked at a rope inside the bag and then back at the sword.

"What's on your mind Jaune?" Jehoshua asked as he wrapped his book and stuffed it in the sack.

"Just … thinking." Jaune took out the rope, tied a loop in one end and then another loop in the other and put the sword through them. He then put it on, like slinging a mailbag and let the weight of the sword rest against his back. The blade had just enough of a taper in one spot for the rope to firmly sit around the blade without the risk of it coming loose. Jehoshua snapped a laugh off and slung the sack up onto his shoulders.

"Good thinking. That sword weighs about as much as this pack anyway. Should even the load a bit," Jehoshua chuckled and adjusted the sack to fit more snugly against his back. "When you're ready, let me know."

"I'm ready when you are," Jaune grinned and gave the man a shaky thumbs-up.

"Alright! Last one back to the gate has to buy lunch tomorrow!" Jehoshua stepped off with his back foot and was suddenly ten feet ahead of Jaune. The teen gaped but snapped out of it quickly and shot off after his mentor.

"Get back here!" Jaune yelled, his fist shook in the air as he ran after the older man.

* * *

**1 Hour 45 Minutes Later**

"D-damn… It…," Jaune huffed and puffed as he trudged up to the gates of Ansel. Jehoshua popped himself up from the wall he had been leaning on and walked over to Jaune. His grin was wide and his eyes sparkled with some hidden emotion. Jaune caught the look out of the corner of his eye but paid it no mind as he tried to catch his breath.

"Just fifteen minutes behind me, good on ya!" Jehoshua praised with a wild smirk. The guards at the gate looked between the two men and tried to figure out what had happened to wind the young man.

"Sir? Why is he all winded like that?" One of the guards asked, not even wishing to entertain the mystery.

"Oh, we're just doing some endurance training."

"What kind?" The guard asked while the rest of the garrison leaned in subconsciously to hear it as well. Over the last week of seeing the teen get dragged out to the forest and coming back beaten to hell or carried by the other man had piqued their interest.

"Running."

"Oh? From where and how long?"

"Oh, we ran around the perimeter of the city," Jehoshua patted Jaune on the shoulder to which the teen offered him the bird. The guards blinked at the simple answer and one of them even tilted their head.

"How lon-"

"An hour forty-five, give or take a couple minutes," Jehoshua grinned at them. He ignored the muttered curses form Jaune, he actually basked in the humor it gave him to put someone else through some of the same torture, I mean training, that he had gone through. The guards, however, all blinked and became gobsmacked as the time finally clicked.

"FUCK! You two… Covered fifteen miles in just under two hours?! Mind, that's hard ground too! Trees, undergrowth, ravines, a river or two, and the Grimm!" The lead guard remarked with outraged surprise. "How did you two make it out alive!?"

"Oh, I dodged the Grimm. Jaune here pry just ran faster." Jaune tried to take a swing at Jehoshua but the older man simply sidestepped the swing and laughed at the boy's disappointment. "Besides, it's not like he would have been in trouble, there are armed guards patrolling the walls. If he got in trouble he would have had some kind of back up besides myself," Jehoshua let his grin fade. He grabbed Jaune's arm and started pulling him towards the gate. "For now we need to get inside and get some lunch. We still have forms to complete and stances to practice," the guards parted like the red sea and let the two waltz right into the settlement. None of them felt the need to even pat them down, like most days when nothing exciting happened.

* * *

The two made their way through town, Jaune still exhausted with Jehoshua humming some tune under his breath. They walked North along one of the four main roads in Ansel. Currently they were on the Southern Boulevard headed north towards the center of town, which so happened to be a combined City hall CCT tower. After while Jehoshua swung left down one of the side streets that went towards the retail sector, the Southeastern quadrant of the Circular City of Ansel. It also just so happened to be the same way they had taken previously to get to Ember's Apothecary.

The sweaty duo walked the streets, taking a left, a right, another left, and then another left. Jehoshua stopped in front of a little hole in the wall type of restaurant and motioned Jaune inside. I tired teen grunted his thanks and trudged inside, not even paying attention to the restaurant's name as he went in. Jehoshua chuckled at the teens exhausted state and walked in behind him.

"Two house salads, Adam! And a couple of waters! Also a 10oz steak each!" Jehoshua called out to the Bull Faunas that manned the counter. The red-haired young man grinned at him, with his one good eye sparkling in the dim light, and moved to the back to get their orders. Jehoshua sat Jaune down by a window and moved the menus to a nearby table. He watched as the tired young man slumped forward and banged his head against the table, much to Jehoshua's amusement. Moments later Adam came by with two large bowls of Salad on one arm and a small platter with two large glasses of water.

The older man handed Adam a sizable Lien note and winked at the young man. The Bull Faunas blinked at the large tip and nodded his thanks to the man, one of the only Human's he even tolerated and went back to the kitchen to cook their steaks. As a Bull Faunas, one might think that he would have an aversion to anything beef, but he found that he himself rather liked the taste of beef. The young man had no idea what that said about himself but he did not care in the slightest.

"Dig in Jaune. Fresh Salad with Cesar Dressing and a side of Parmesan cheese. I also ordered you a large glass of water, so drink up!" Jehoshua reached over and poked Jaune's shoulder hard enough to rouse the tired teen. Jaune shot him a confused look, but when he caught sight of the food his confusion left him and he dived right in.

"'anks 'Ehsua!" Jaune mumbled through a mouthful of food. Any other time Jehoshua would have smacked him over the head, but after the nasty run, he had the boy perform he felt lenient. So instead he simply told him off.

"Don't ever talk with your mouth full, Jaune. It's unsightly, and if a woman ever catches you doing it you might just find out how hard she can hit a soft object," Jehoshua took hidden glee out of Jaune's pallor after his warning. He then too tucked into his meal and devoured the salad.

"This is awesome food, Adam! Thanks for making it for us!" the hazel-eyed man complimented in between bites of food. The two men chowed down on their meal and talked idly about their day, what either had noticed about Jaune's training and what either one thought could be improved upon.

"I noticed that I favor my right hand for my sword," Jaune said in between bites of salad.

"Is it your dominant hand?"

"No, I'm ambidextrous, but I keep using it for my sword."

"Hmm, we can set up a regiment so you can keep using both hands and not become predisposed to using one hand all the time."

"That'd help. Also, I need to get faster, I know you completed that run around the city sooner than I had, by a long shot even!"

"This is true. But. I'm not going to have you do much running until we get you strong enough for an idea of mine. Yes, we will be continuing the runs, but they won't take up as much of our time as today," Jehoshua's look pierced Jaune's gaze with an intensity he hadn't seen since their first spar. The look dared him to get better, to get faster, and to last longer so that they could do more.

"We won't take long next time," Jaune assured him.

"Good." Jehoshua deftly picked up his glass of water and chugged half of it, ice and all, before setting it back down. Jaune looked a bit queasy at the sight of ice slipping down the man's throat, but fought it down to keep eating. "Oh! In two months we will start sparing again. I need to visit a blacksmith for a special order of mine I want built, well, if its even feasible. Mayor Turner also has a mission for me that should only take the rest of the weekend, so relax. My only stipulation is that you keep running while I'm away and keep up with your lessons!"

"Sounds good to me. I'll see how many laps I can get in before lunch tomorrow and then work on that physics book you gave me. Some of the concepts seem simple, but I can definitely see where I need to work on things. Also, drag?"

"Hmm?"

"Wind drag, on bullets?"

"Oh, it's minimal but its there. What you should look into is gravity and magnetism, those can throw a shot off like nobodies business!" Jehoshua made a comical face like someone had just spouted the worlds greatest horror and he realized it had come from him.

Jaune chuckled and sipped at his water. The older man might be a pain in the ass, but he was informative at the least and downright inspirational at the best.

"Here's your steak, Gents! Have a nice meal!" Adam performed a mock bow and walked away from the table with a rough chuckle. Jaune idly noted the SDC brand over the man's left eye. He felt horrible for him but didn't say anything in fear of provoking the man.

With their salads dusted and their main courses laid before them, the two men dug in with gusto. Adam watched from the kitchen's entrance. A lithe woman in a black gown walked up beside him and laid a hand upon his crossed arms. Jaune could tell she had said something to him, but whatever it was she had said was lost on him. She was too far away and he couldn't see her lips, so he couldn't even try to glean anything from the conversation even if he had wanted to.

Jehoshua savored each bite of the juicy steak and watched forlornly as his protege demolished his own steak. The hazel-eyed man had to wonder if the teen even tasted it.

* * *

**Half an Hour Later**

**The Black Tooth – Adam's Restaurant/Dinner **

Jaune leaned back in his seat and smiled contently towards the ceiling. His hands rested happily upon his belly and a soft groan of contentment escaped his lips.

"That was good…," Jehoshua moaned. The grown man picked at his teeth with a toothpick he had pulled from one of his many pockets.

"One of the best meals I've ever eaten…," Jaune agreed with a pleasurable groan.

The two men caught sight of the Bull Faunas when he came from the kitchen with a pay stub and a small tray of mints in hand. He carried himself like a man worn, tread upon and beaten, but never broken or put down. Jaune thought he looked cool, even in his simple cooking smock and a simple paper hat. Jehoshua, however, felt the deadly gaze the man layered them with and instantly came on guard. As many times as he might have eaten at the establishment, this had been the first time he had ever felt such killing intent from the man.

"Your bill, gentlemen."

"Thanks," Jaune smiled brightly at the man, which surprised and confused him.

Adam had never had a human thank him for a meal, most even left without paying. This boy, a young man even, thanked him. Even smiled, SMILED, at him. It was a first.

"This has got to be the best Steak I have ever had, outside of my Father's cooking. I'm surprised you aren't swarmed with customers!" The boy raved.

Adam blinked, squirmed, and let a small smile edge its way onto his lips.

"Thank you, that's the first time someone like you has complimented my cooking," Adam said truthfully.

"Someon- oh, a Human?" Jaune asked with a bit of consternation. "Hah, they have no idea what they're missing out on. Stupid fuckers couldn't find their way out of a wet paper bag!" Jaune barked a laugh. Jehoshua sniggered along with him which threw the Bull Faunas for a loop.

"Let me tell you something Adam, nine times out of ten? Any bad food I've ever gotten from somewhere else that was not made by his family has been made by human hands. Rarely do I see a Faunas that makes something horrible. Even then it was because they were a bird Faunas… Their taste-buds aren't quite what anyone would call normal." Jehoshua grinned and motioned towards Jaune with a feral look in his eyes.

Adam watched the boy shiver with disgust at the very mention of his run-in with a Bird Faunas cook.

"Worms do not belong in soup… Especially live ones…," Jaune muttered with a green face.

Adam, who had thought the boy simply had something against that one kind of Faunas, recoiled at the revelation. That was simply an affront to cooks everywhere!

"Yikes," Adam shivered. "Well, I'm glad that you found my food appetizing at least," Adam grinned. The left side of his face pulled oddly, but he paid it no mind. The boy before him grinned back with equal excitement.

"Yeah, I think I might come here after every session, just for this steak!" Jaune declared with a goofy smile. Adam winced and went to tell the boy that that wasn't necessary, but a look over his shoulder at his 'friend' told him it wouldn't matter.

"Thanks for the food, Adam. It's much appreciated," Jehoshua got up and stretched. "Here's a tip for the excellent meal!" The man smiled and patted Adam on the shoulder as he walked by. He did not notice the young man flinch, but Jaune did.

"Seriously, it was good food," Jaune held up his fist to the bull-horned young man, much to said man's confusion. Adam understood a moment later and bumped fists with the boy.

"It was a pleasure cooking for you," Adam smiled a bit at Jaune and waved him towards the door.

"I'll see you later, okay?"

"Of course!" Adam actually laughed. It felt good, to talk with someone else again, who wasn't either a terrorist, Blake, or some braggart looking for a body to beat.

At that, they left and Jaune went off towards his house while Jehoshua meandered off towards his apartment.

* * *

**9:50 PM**

**Arc Residence**

Jaune walked up to the front door with a smile on his face and a limp in his step. He had had a blast training with Jehoshua that day and was more than ready to get some sleep. His belly was full form the steak he had at Black Fang's and he was warm inside. It as a good feeling to have after a long day.

"Hey, guys!" Jaune greeted as he walked through the door. "How is every… one…?" Jaune blinked at what he saw; his parents, sitting together, on the couch, staring at him. It sent off all kinds of alarm bells in his head and made him step back a bit. "Is… Something wrong?" Jaune asked with a bit of trepidation leaking into his voice.

"I don't know son, you tell me?" Nicholas asked, venom dripped from every-word and his brow scrunched together like a pair of heavyweights fighting for dominance.

"Yes, Jaune, there's something wrong," Juniper snapped. In a huff, she stood up and strode towards him with angry intent. "When were you going to tell us that you were getting training?!" she snapped. In her hand were a set of pictures of him and Jehoshua out in the clearing. Jehoshua had a switch in one hand while Jaune lifted a tree trunk over his head.

"Uh-bu-!" Jaune tried to articulate, but his father surged forward.

"Damnation boy! We told you this was not allowed!" Nicholas yelled. Spittle hung from his teeth and his eyes glowed with hidden power as his own Aura reacted to his words.

"Bu-!" Jaune tried again only to be cut off by Juniper.

"BUT NOTHING! We told you, a hundred times and more that you were to not pursue this quest! We want you SAFE Jaune, not dead in some long-forgotten ditch with the vultures picking at you!" She seethed.

"Mom!" Jaune stepped back as if slapped. Jaune's eyes were wide and filled with hurt. His heart cracked at her words. She still didn't think he was strong enough, good enough, to fulfill his dream?

"Don't raise your voice with her boy! She's your mother! Show some respect!" Nicholas snarled. With a snap, Nicholas slapped his son across the face and sent him to the floor. "You have gone against our wishes Jaune! What can you say for yourself!"

"I.. I just wanted to make you… Proud," Jaune took in a shaky breath. His face hurt but his heartfelt heavy.

"Proud… PROUD!" Nicholas seethed. His rage began to boil within him and his face turned a deep shade of red. "HOW CAN I BE PROUD OF A DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE SHIT LIKE YOU!" He roared. The house shook with the thunder of his rage. The windows rattled and the doors creaked.

"Stop this foolishness and think boy!" Nicholas growled. "You will die if you continue this charade! What school, NAY! What ACADEMY! Would take you! Untrained, weak, and worthless as a hunter! None of them! You will never be strong enough to become one! This… This _FIEND_ that has decided to train you does not know even the first _thing_ about training a true huntsman!"

"THEN TRAIN ME!" Jaune cried out in despair. "Let me prove you wrong! That I AM strong enough, that I AM good enough, to be a Huntsman!" Jaune cried out to his father. Laid out on the floor, cheek swollen and bruised. He still loved his father and wanted him to acknowledge him as a strong enough person to complete his dream. Even as his heart began to break, he still loved them.

"NEVER! You asked me to train you, and you never got strong enough! You never could deal with the little bit of training I gave you! You sniveling little brat! You wined and begged to do something else, and then begged me again to train you!" Nicholas roared. Juniper glared at her son, as if he were the most undeserving of her children, almost as if he were not her own son. Her firstborn.

"I'M SORRY!" Jaune cried out, on his knees.

"Sorry… SORRY… **SORRY**!" Nicholas screamed. His voice thundered and his fist crashed down against Jaune's face. His fist impacted against Jaune's cheek. It broke the skin, sending blood everywhere. The punch broke Jaune's jaw, fractured his cheek, cracked his eye-socket, and gave him a concussion.

"**What is going on here…**," A deep, booming voice, rumbled throughout the house from behind Jaune. The frightened and traumatized teen crawled towards the voice and mumbled some kind of plea towards them.

Out from the dark and into the light, Jehoshua Gheorghe, stepped into the house. He was divested of his weapons, dressed only in a plain green T-shirt and black pants. He was missing his shoes and his feet were covered in dirt. There was a crazed look to his eye as his gaze snapped form Jaune to the boy's parents repeatedly.

"Stay out of this, Jehoshua, this isn't anything to do with you," Nicholas growled threateningly.

"You laid a hand on your son… Nick, and you bloodied him… I would be a fool not to step in now," Jehoshua snapped. The young man got down on his knees and pulled Jaune into his arms. The boy sobbed and clung to him like a drowning man clings to a life-preserver.

"Let go of the boy, _**now**_, Jehoshua. He must be punished for his disobedience!" Nicholas growled. Juniper pulled out a metal ruler and slapped it against her palm.

"Touch this boy again, Nicky, Juney, and I will remove you from this earth," Jehoshua growled while hunched over Jaune. The boy sobbed into his chest and clung to him even harder when he heard what his parents had said.

"doth leth thepth kakth me!" Jaune blubbered. His broken jaw made it impossible for him to speak right and Jehoshua felt a whole new sense of dread open up within him.

If these… Monster… Had just forced this boy out of the Hunting profession with their abuse, he was going to kill them. He was going to set them alight and watch their horrid mugs melt into the flame!

"STAY BACK!" Jehoshua bellowed. He scooped Jaune up into his arms bridal style and stepped back towards the door. "Don't make me hurt you!" He shouted. Scared out of his mind at what his supposed friends had done to their child, and his personal hero, frightened him.

"Give me back that boy!" Juniper snapped waspishly.

"I'm not giving you anything but a bullet to the skull if you don't step off Juney!" Jehoshua growled. He stepped out the door, still facing the Arc parents, and out on to the street. Jaune's crying now echoed off the neighbors' houses and off down the streets. It sounded horrid, worse than anything the young man had ever heard.

"I will beat you, and the boy, if you don't hand him back, Jehoshua! We brought you into this city, we can shove you back out!" Nicholas threatened.

"Not a man in this city is strong, nor brave, enough to fight me, Nick. And Jaune is a hundred times the man you could have ever been! Call him _boy_ one more time and I will cut you!"

"You don't have your swords, Jeje, try me!" Nick drew Crocea Mors from inside the house and brandished it towards Jehoshua.

With Jaune in his arms he couldn't fight them both off, but he needn't have to when the cavalry arrived.

"Big Brother!"

"Jaune!"

Seven sisters, each awake and fully dressed came careening down the hall where they then saw what had happened. Aurora screamed in horror alongside Amethyst and Dawn. Noire, Vermilion, Topaz, and Amber all rushed forward and tacked their father. The older three subdued their mother and dragged her to the floor.

"Run, Jehoshua! Get Jaune out of here!"

"You little brats!" Nicholas howled, his voice became distant as Jehoshua ran away, carrying Jaune off towards safety and away from his parents.


	4. Chapter 3: In Those Waning Hours

**As a heads up, I will be starting a new job on the 15th of October... As such I will be going through several months of training and be working a full-time job. This will, no doubt, put a strain on how many chapters I will be getting out over the course of the months and years to come. So, as I stated in the first chapter, do not expect anything to be on time. My sincerest apologies, but, it looks like I will most likely be getting a single chapter out a month from here on out. Yours truly, Harbinger of Script**

**The conclusion to Jaune's exodus from Arc Manor. The beginning of something new, and the end of an Era.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: In Those Waning hours...**

**End of January**

**Late Night**

**Jehoshua's Apartment**

* * *

Jehoshua carried Jaune through the front door and gingerly walked around the single piece of furniture in his living room. He laid Jaune upon the couch and gently propped the boy up enough so that his head rested on the armrest. He rushed to the kitchenette and procured an ice pack and a bit roll of paper towels. He tore off a few and folded them over and soaked them in a bit of disinfectant.

"Dammit, Jaune, Keep it together!" Jehoshua muttered while he tended to the quietly crying teen. Jaune's eyes were swollen shut, his lips bloated, and his face looked like someone had set an entire hive of bees on him.

"Damn," Jehoshua threw the towels down and whipped out his scroll. He hit a few buttons and just about smashed the call button. After a few rings, a woman's voice on the other line answered.

"EMBER! IT'S JEHOSHUA!" Jehoshua screamed. "Get to my apartment ASAP! I have wounded!" With that, he hung up and went back to tending to Jaune. He dabbed the blood from his face, packed a second ice pack and laid it against his cheek, and fretted over what he could do.

Not ten minutes later Ember, carrying a set of large packs, rushed into the apartment.

"What happened!?" She demanded the instant she saw Jaune on the couch.

"His parents beat him! Motherfucking Nicholas Arc, beat his son half to death!" Jehoshua snarled. He gripped Jaune's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "It's okay, son, I'm here for you. Ember's going to get you all patched up and I'll keep you safe. Just stay awake Jaune."

Jaune tried to say something, anything, but the pain in his face, coupled with the broken bones, made it impossible. He couldn't see, could barely hear with the sound of rushing blood in his ears, and his body felt like it was on fire.

"Ember, please, watch over him… I need to go to make sure the other kids are all safe," The death-like stare in his eyes told the Apothecary all she needed to know about what would happen should they not be.

"Be safe Jeje, and take Little-Brother with you," Ember urged him. Jehoshua nodded and drew his short sword from the weapons rack he kept by the door.

"Take care of him for me, he's precious to me," Jehoshua whispered. The pained look in his eye told the young woman how much he cared for the boy, and it touched her heart deeply to see someone care so much for another.

"Good luck," Ember whispered. She then bent down, pulled out some tools and a menagerie of other instruments, and a few dozen other things and began her work. "I'm sorry, Jaune, but this is going to pinch, maybe sting… And then you won't feel anything at all..."

* * *

Jehoshua marched back towards the Arc house, Little-Brother drawn, and eyes hard as steel.

The cold January air clung to his body and wisps of mist flew out of his mouth with every breath. His teeth shined brightly whenever the street lights caught them, which sent a shiver down the spine of any who saw them. But that was not what made those who haunt the night scurry form him. No. It was the words he muttered as he got closer to the Arc house.

_"Yay though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death... I shall Fear... **No Evil... **_**For I. Am. Here... _And God is with me._**"

The front door had been knocked from its hinges sometime between his flight and subsequent return. The lights above the porch were shattered from the previous engagement, and flecks of blood dotted the floor. Glass blanketed the ground inside the house and the moonlight reflected off them in a disco of lights. Little-Brother glinted and glared in the moonlight as Jehoshua marched up the steps to meet his enemies.

* * *

"Nicholas!" the name ripped forth from his lips in a snarl fit for a Beowolf. His grip on Little-Brother tightened. He stepped through the threshold and surveyed the house. The entrance was a mess, a streak of blood along one wall, a hole in the other. A wad of golden hair lay on the floor, and the hall light was shattered.

He eased down the hallway and saw that the girls' rooms were closed. He heard crying and sniffling from within, but Aurora's and Dawn's rooms were wide open. The farther he prowled into the house, the worse everything seemed. Pictures were askew, some broken. A family photo was broken in half and stomped on upon the floor. Blood and dirt caked the picture of the once happy family.

"_**Nicholas**_?!" Jehoshua growled. He heard what sounded like someone struggling from the backyard. He bound over a short wall that led to a lowered patio style landing that had a screen open to the outside. From there he saw where the other five members of house Arc had congregated.

Amethyst was lain out on the ground, unconscious with a slight bruise forming along her left cheek. Dawn was being held down by her mother while Nicholas struggled with Aurora.

"Nick!" Jehoshua spat. The venom with which he said that one name could have felled an Elder King Taijitu. The Arc Patriarch snarled and spun around. The hand he had around Aurora's neck relaxed and his grip on Crocea Mors tightened. Juniper threw her daughter to the floor and kept her there with a foot placed squarely on her back. Aurora did not try anything; with her windpipe partially crushed from her father's choking and the loss of air, she was more a danger to herself than others at that point.

"Jehoshua… What the fuck do you think you're doing in my house…," Nicholas growled.

"You are not welcome here, Jeje," Juniper snapped, her regal air still present even as she brutalized her daughters.

"You laid a hand on Jaune," He snapped. He thumbed Little-Brother and glared into the red and gold eyes of Juniper and Nicholas Arc. "You almost killed your son," the rage in his voice cooled. "You **dare?"** No longer boiling in anger, he solidified into solid hate.

"That waste of space!? That poor excuse for a son!" Nicholas spat.

"He defied us!" Juniper crowed. "He went against every wish, every request that he be safe… And you helped him!"

"**I TRAIN-**!" Jehoshua began.

"YOU STARTED THIS!" Nicholas bound across the distance between them in one step. Some sixty feet, cleared, in one go. Jehoshua had but a moment to catch the first strike.

Hazel eyes met blue as Jehoshua brought Little-Brother up to catch Crocea Mors on the downswing. Nick rebound off his blade and brought Yellow Death up from the left and towards Jeje's side, point first.

He sidestepped and slashed at Nick's arms. The tip of his blade dug through the Golden Aura of the Arc and lightly cut across the man's arms. Nick seethed and pulled back. Nick dipped the steel towards Jehoshua's neck and stabbed. The shorter man sidestepped and deflect the blow with the tip of Little-Brother. Nick slashed at his chest but missed. Jehoshua stabbed for his eye but had to yank his arm back or get it cut by Nick. Jehoshua kicked him in the gut and knocked him back a foot or two. The two glared at each other and pointed their blades at each other's throats.

At a stalemate, the two glared at each other.

"You took my boy," Nicholas hissed through clenched teeth.

"I raised him up!" Jehoshua spat venomously. "You degraded him! Damaged him! Made him think he was nothing! Nicholas, I made him stronger than the both of us!"

"You turned him from me!"

"I gave him a chance!" Jehoshua sailed through the air on a single twitch of his feet and brought his full weight down against Nicholas. His blade pushed through the older man's guard, cut through his aura, and bit into his chest almost an inch before it was stopped.

Nicholas snarled and stepped forward, he headbutted Jehoshua. The hazel-eyed man cried out in pain and stumbled back. The blonde then brought his fist up into his gut and doubled him over. Nicholas struck Jehoshua in the face with the back of his hand, but the swing missed as the shorter man weaved out of the way. The simple maneuver drove Nicholas off balance and left him wide open.

Jehoshua used the split second where Nicholas was left open by what happened to deck the man right in the jaw. A swift right hook and the seven-foot-tall man was sent sprawling to the ground.

"Stay down, Nick, don't make me hurt you even more. I will kill you if you force me," Jehoshua pointed little brother at the older man's chest, his chest heaved and a bit of blood trailed down from the corner of his mouth. He looked over at Dawn and sneered a the foot holding her down. He shot Juniper a dangerous look. The interim Nurse glared viciously at the brown-haired man and ground her foot into dawn's back. "Hurt her anymore, June, and I will remove that foot!" He snapped at the bitch.

"Now listen here, Nicholas Arc, I will give you one, and only one, warning." Jehoshua watched as the blue-eyed man glared up at him with his hand on his chest. Crocea Mors was several dozen feet away from him and there was nothing the man could use for a weapon anymore. "If you ever, and I mean EVER, strike another of your children again… I will hunt you, and your wife, down… And I will pay back every cut, every bruise, every injustice, you have shed upon your children, sevenfold. If you hit them? I hit you seven times. If you cut them? I cut you seven times. If you break something… I will break seven different bones in your body… And I _will not **care**_ which ones they are…," Jehoshua gave Nicholas a dead-eye stare.

Suddenly, without anyone present being able to even catch a glimpse. Jehoshua was over Nicholas' head, knees planted on his chest, with Little-Brother buried up to the hilt next to his head. His fist, a mere quarter inch away from the side of his head, was buried a full three inches into the dirt.

"I am, The Harbinger, Nicholas… I have fought men bigger, stronger, and faster than you… Do not test me, wretch. For my God is with me, and yours have forsaken you."

Unknown to Jehoshua, but when he mentioned his Lord, his eyes flashed a golden color. For but a brief moment, as if by a trick of the light. It was disregarded by Nick as such, but things had changed, with that one moment. Things were put into motion that would change the very fabric of Remnant, and the landscape.

The death of untold millions had just been ensured and Nicholas Arc, father of Jaune Arc, had just signed their Death Certificates.

Jehoshua got up, dusted his knuckles, and stared down at Nick with a sad look in his eyes.

"I looked up to you, once upon a time… Thought you were the penultimate father… I was wrong," He shook his head sadly at the man and turned from him to look at his wife. "You were like a mother to me, June… You massive bitch… Get off your daughter before I kill you." The long suffering sigh with which he said those words sent shivers of fear down both elder Arcs. Dawn and Aurora simply laid where they were and tried to make themselves small enough not to be noticed.

"M-!"

"Finish that word and I will remove that foot!" Jehoshua snapped. His sword went from his side to pointing at her throat in the time it took her to blink. She made a gurgling noise in the back of her throat and lifted the foot she had placed upon her daughters back. She stepped back from Dawn and glared maliciously at Jehoshua.

"The same goes for you, as what I told your husband. Never lay a hand on your children again, or face the consequences." Jehoshua lowered the sword and walked backwards towards the doorway he had come through. Jehoshua glared menacingly at the two blondes, his eyes settled on the daughters of Arc and how battered they were. Aurora had a small slash along the right side of her face, it wasn't anything major, but it did marre her natural beauty. Dawn, playful, energetic, Dawn, was curled up in a ball at her mother's feet.

"Step… Away… from… her," Jehoshua huffed. His voice was rough, like a man who had swallowed a roll of sandpaper and enjoyed it. His sword was instantly pointed at junipers throat, much to the woman's dismay. "I beat your husband, june, don't make me beat you too," He seethed.

"Fuck you, Jehoshua," She sneered with an upturned nose. She stepped back and scoffed at her daughters. "Take them, I don't care, they are useless anyway. They can't even stand up to me, what hope do they have for the real world?!" She said with disdain. Jehoshua fought down the urge to relieve her of her head. He strode over to Dawn's side and helped the girl into a sitting position. She looked up at him with bloodshot eyes and a dim gleam of hope. He patted her shoulder with his off hand and motioned for her to go towards the house. He saw Nicholas try and get up, but a barely restrained snarl escaped his lips and put the man in a state of panic. He marched over and slammed his heel down upon the man's chest. Wind knocked out of him, the man glared painfully up at jehoshua and tried to catch his breath.

"Stay. Down," Jehoshua snarled.

"Aurora, get up!" he ordered. He felt a ping of guilt at how his words sounded, but he could feel sorry for that later. He had to get the girls out of there and away from their parents.

He never let Nick or June out of his sight as he made his way back through the house. He maneuvered down the hall and stopped at the girls' bedrooms. He knocked on each one and urged them out. The four girls that were still there, Noire, Topaz, Ember, and Vermilion, all clambered out with their pillows and a single blanket. He maneuvered the girls past the blood, past the clumps of hair, and out the front door. He stiffly watched as their parents came out and stood on the porch to watch them leave. Nicholas had grabbed his sword and Juniper had grabbed the shotgun she kept in the kitchen.

Jehoshua looked around and saw that the kids and him were surrounded by all their neighbors. All the neighbors glared at the parents and sent him and the children sympathizing looks. Some of them wielded guns and simple firearms while others were armed with basic farming tools and the odd sword or knife.

"Go home, Jehoshua get the girls out of here, we'll watch your back." One of the young men that lived on the street with the Arc's came up next to him, brandishing a hoe of all things. "Get back to Jauney-boy. Make sure he's okay. The rest of us will make sure they don't follow you."

Jehoshua gave the gathered crowd a look of pride and understanding. Almost a hundred people stood between him and the Arcs now, it was a humbling sight. The girls looked about, bewildered, and awed, by the help they were receiving from their neighbors.

"My thanks," Jehoshua bowed his head towards the people, "Come on girls, let's go see your brother." Cheers of welcome and well wishes were sent their way to be passed on to Jaune.

A half hour after having left for the Arc house, Jehoshua was back with the girls in toe. The lights were on inside, his front door was ajar, and muttered words could be heard from inside. He recognized the voice and bound up the steps.

"How is he!" Jehoshua all but demanded as he came down to a knee next to Ember who was still by Jaune's side. The girls crowded around us and watched Jaune with horrified worry. Aurora held Topaz and Amber in her arms while Dawn hugged Vermilion and Noire. The younger girls quietly asked their older sisters what was wrong with Jaune, they went by mostly unanswered and ignored.

"He's hurt badly, but Ember here is trying to fix him up for us," Jehoshua muttered to Ember. the little blue-eyed girl sent him a sorrowful look and huddled closer into Aurora's chest.

"His body has started healing the broken bones, miraculously so. His fever broke, I have no idea why he even had one to begin with." She shot Jehoshua a look, "he has several old breaks in his face Jeje… What kind of animals have we all been looking up to…?" She looked pleadingly up into his eyes. Her Cobalt colored eyes shone with unshed tears and her hands slightly shook while she tended to the blood-stained gauze pressed to Jaune's face.

"The worst kind," He muttered quietly. "I've given them a set of conditions… I told them if they ever hurt their children again, I would be ridding the world of a few… Animals." The girls shivered at the tone he used, but the words themselves were a comfort. Their parents had been getting worse over the last year, but ever since Jaune nad Aurora's fifteenth birthday, they had become almost five times as bad. To be out from under their control was a happy feeling that most of the sisters couldn't explain, but Aurora, Dawn, and Noire felt relief and joy like they hadn't in a long time.

Ember gave a shaky nod and used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears in her eyes.

"Were you able to set his bones?"

"I was… I had to use my Aura and some of the tools you purchased for me to do it… But he won't look too different from how he did. There will be a scar under his left eye, where the skin broke. He also has six pins in his jaw that are holding it all together. Once his Aura is unlocked in a few years, as per your agreement with him, they will start to dissolve." She saw the curious look he sent her and she explained. "They are Aura based constructs. The metals used are iron-based and will corrode into a form of rust that is used by the body. The only thing keeping them from doing that is the first place is a special Dust synthetic that replicates the effects of Aura. It keeps the Iron pins from corroding until the patient's own aura dissolves the barrier. They're used widely in children that have had similar injuries that will soon be having their aura unlocked." Ember gently pulled back the gauze and wiped away the coagulated blood on the boy's cheek with a wet bit of towel before she applied a new bandage with antiseptic on it.

"How long will he be out for?" The hazel-eyed man asked. His brow creased with worry and his hands balled into fists at his side. Aurora hissed and shot Jehoshua a look. She was thankful that he had saved them, but she thought he had let their parents off lightly.

"About a month, at most. Two to three weeks, with regular aura treatments, and he should be back to fighting shape in no time." Ember grinned tiredly at her friend and wiped a bit of sweat from her brow with the sleeve of her night-shirt.

It was then that he realized her state of dress, or undress as it were. Ember only had on a pair of pink skin tight booty shorts, or what he hoped was such, a thin camisole, and an oversized blue nightshirt. Her normally long tresses of auburn were bound up in a messy ponytail and her normal makeup was nowhere to be seen.

He felt his cheeks ignite in a great flame and his eyes nearly bugged out of his skull. She looked magnificent and otherworldly, simply beautiful in his eyes. Tired, smiling, covered in the blood of his protege, she looked like an angel sent from Heaven down to save them.

The older girls saw the look in his eyes and how he was staring at Ember in wonder. They thought it was cute if not badly timed. Granted, Aurora thought, love does crop up in the weirdest of places. In the oddest of times.

"Jeje, he should be fine now… Just make sure that he has enough liquids and I'll be back in the morning to check on him, okay?" She sounded so tired to his ears, more so than just a moment ago.

"Bu-bu," He stammered. Her rose-colored lips pursed and she gave him a concerned look.

"Are you-," She started. Dawn giggled at Jehoshua's stuttering, Aurora kicked her shin and sent her a glare. Her bloodshot eyes made it a hundred times more intimidating than it would have otherwise been and it reminded the young girl of their predicament.

"Stay the night?" he asked. Eyes wide and his face now pale.

"What?" She blinked, surprised by the sudden request.

"Stay, the night, please?" He asked. "I… I don't feel well enough letting you go out after everything you've done for Jaune and I, especially with how tired you are now, and since it's after midnight… And you live on the other side of town," Jehoshua rambled. "I just want you to be safe and-," His words were cut off by a delicate, strong, finger pressed against his lips. Aurora and Dawn, who stood behind Jehoshua and in Ember's line of sight, both nodded their heads vigorously. They didn't want the woman that had saved their brother's life to go out and get hurt.

"Jeje, I would love to stay, but-,"

"Just tonight, I'll help you run the clinic for the next week, just … Don't go?" She saw the sad, scared, look in his eyes and her heart melted a bit in her chest. She swallowed the lump that caught in her throat and she nodded.

"Where…?"

"You get my bed, I'll be in here on the floor, just encase something happens to Jaune." he looked up into her Cobalt blue eyes and pleaded with all his soul.

"Of course, Jeje," A flush of red dusted her cheeks and she had to look away. Her heartbeat faster in her chest and her hands became sweaty. "The little girls can sleep with me. I'm sure they need the rest," Ember gently took Topaz and Amber from Aurora. The blond teen smiled tiredly up at the woman and slowly nodded her head in thanks.

"Go ahead and get some rest Em, I can handle everything from here. Not the first time I've taken care of someone injured. I'll change the Gauze every hour, set a timer, and keep his wounds clean. Go get some rest and we can talk in the morrow, okay?" The unasked question of her still being there in the morning went unsaid. Her nod was all he needed to know she would be.

"We'll help him too, Not like we have anything else to do," Dawn smiled. Aurora and Vermilion nodded along. Besides, they figured there wouldn't be enough room in the bed with Ember, Noire, Topaz, and Amber all in it too.

"Of course. Goodnight, Jeje, Jaune, girls," She bent down and gently kissed Jaune on the temple. She sent an incomprehensible look at Jehoshua and then smiled. It wasn't a tired smile, nor a bashful thing. It was a real, loving smile like you would give your best friend or your lover. It made his chest ache for something that could never be, and for the prospect of something new.

She cradled Topaz nad Amber against her chest and let Noire clasp her shawl. She led the little girl off towards Jehoshua's room with the other two in arm. Her hips swayed sensually as she left the room. The door closed behind her and the sound of the handle clicking into place knocked what little energy Jehoshua had left out of him.

It was there, as he watched her go, that he finally realized that yes… Those were shorts after all.

The girls grabbed what sheets and blankets they had brought with them and readied a makeshift mattress off to one side of the room. Jehoshua went to the linen closet and broke out a large comforter and some pillows he had kept stashed away just encase he had company over. Something he had taken with him from his home.

* * *

**Next Morning**

**Jehoshua's Apartment**

**Jehoshua's POV**

* * *

I sat up and braced myself with my left hand against the floor behind me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and dug the sand from them. I Looked to my left and stared, sadly, at Jaune's fitfully sleeping form. His face was almost black from the attack his father made against him, not even mentioning the surgery he went through just hours before.

This young man, scrawny, twiggy, and browbeaten into submission unto the point he rebelled. I have watched him grow, this past month, and I have come to love him. He is not unlike a son to me, even though I am just ten years older than him. He reminds me of my brothers, whom I practically raised, and how vibrant they were when I still knew them.

Herod and Ezekiel, three and nine years younger than me respectively. The first was a great fighter, the other a great thinker. Neither, in my eyes, could be matched in their field. Herod was without peer in my eyes, the best fighter I had ever seen. Ezekiel, the brightest mind I had ever seen, who taught me how to use Graphene, and how to work it. I love them dearly, though I will never see them again.

Jaune… This blue-eyed, Blond-haired, twig of a boy… He reminds me of them… So much that it hurts. His earnest face, his honest words, his naive trust in all things to be good and just… He is precious to this world, for more than just his name, for more than just who he is. He is Jaune Arc; Son of Nicholas Arc, Grandson to Mathias Arc, Great Grandson to Harold Arc, and Great-great Grandson to Francis Arc, - Founder of Ansel and first Lord of the Frontier. Four generations before him, and they had founded a city and beaten back the tide. Nine generation before Francis and they had been hedge Knights, roamers that kept the lands safe from Grimm and settled land disputes between the Kingdoms.

Ten Generations before the Knights, they were Kings Upon the Mountain; Fortress Glen had been their hold, their great Empire solid and unshakable, until She Who Hunts came and destroyed it all with a vast army of Grimm.

Jaune was the culmination of over twenty generations of Arcs. Lords, Knights, and Kings. Each a Master unto himself, and a King unto their home. Be it hovel, cave, horse, cottage, or castle. It flows in their blood to rule, to be kind, and to fight for what is right.

"Jaune… You magnificent boy," I got up and walked over to Jaune and put a hand on his forehead. His subtle thrashing subsided almost immediately and he slumped further into the couch.

I closed my eyes, bowed my head, and whispered a short prayer to my Lord. '_My Lord in heaven, hallowed be thy name… I come before you in Jesus Christ's name, praying for the speedy recovery of my young friend. He has been abused and broken by the last person that should have ever hurt him… I pray for his healing, that you mend his broken bones, and take away this pain that roams his body even now. I pray that you guide him, that his heart shalt not falter and send him into darkness._

_Please, Lord, take care of my friend, that he might become stronger for this turmoil… If there is anything that I can do to help, give me guidance and it shall be done._

_In Jesus Christ's name, I pray these things… Amen._'

From my spot on the floor next to Jaune, I got up and walked into the kitchen, sparsely populated as it was with food and furniture. There was a short fridge, a small bit of counter, the sink, more counter, the dishwasher under it, the stove-oven combo, and then a table with two chairs.

I looked over to where the girls were arrayed and saw that they had somehow ended up in a heap on the floor. It was kind of cute, how they had turned into a pile of limbs and heads. I copped a short laugh and turned away.

I slowly walked over to the fridge and dug out a small carton of eggs, a quart of milk, a gallon of Orange juice, and a half-eaten pack of bacon. I flicked on the range and set the ingredients on the counter. I pulled out a knife from one of the cabinet drawers and a spatula from another. I set them on the counter and pulled a skillet out from above the stove. I set it on the range and went back to the fridge for some butter. Setting the butter on the counter, I picked up the knife.

With a deft flick of my wrist, I shaved a chunk of golden mellow yellow off the cube and slapped it into the pan. I tilted the pan and swished the butter around. Once it was thoroughly covered I set it back down and picked up one of the eggs. I easily cracked it against the counter and dumped the golden delight into the pan. With a bit of salt and pepper and it was done a few seconds later.

I repeated the process of cooking eggs eight more times and set everything out on a trio of plates. Once I had cleaned the dish of egg bits I opened the pack of bacon and slid out everything. I slapped the slab of bacon into the already seasoned pan and put a plate over it to keep the grease in.

I moved over by the sink and pulled open one of the cabinet doors and pulled out all of the cups I owned. I filled them with Orange juice and set them on the counter. I picked up the plates and set them on the table and arranged them for three. I went back over to the dishwasher and pulled out three forks and a pair of knives.

I set the table and walked back over to the stove. I turned off the range and pulled the plate off the pan. The bacon was nice and crispy and more than ready to eat. A self-satisfied smile worked its way on my face, but I killed it when I remembered Jaune was sleeping in the other room.

"Good mornin' Jeje, I smell breakfast," Ember sauntered in behind me, dressed more conservatively this time, to my utter, internal, disappointment, and sat at the table. Noire, Topaz, and Amber slunk in after her. Ember had on a thick green camisole, bright blue jeans, and her hair was done up in a neat bun. I vaguely noticed that she had on a pair of string sandals. Noire was dressed in one of my many dirty shirts, something with a fist on it proclaiming Faunus rights or some such. It was long enough that it was more a dress on her than anything. Topaz had on Ember's camisole from last night, fashioned into a makeshift dress, with one of my wide tan scarves wrapped around her neck. She looked like a tan popsicle. Amber was dressed in her onsie, a bunny one with pink fur and white bunny ears and a white cotton tail.

"Morning Em, how'd you sleep?" I waved to the zombie like children. they groaned back at me with tired eyes.

"Like the dead… How's Jaune?"

"Still in pain… I gave him a bit of one of those painkillers you left on the counter last night. Thanks, by the way, for leaving those out for me," I grinned thankfully at her. Her welcoming nod made my grin turn into a full on smile.

"I'll wake him in a bit, get some eggs in him. Mushed up and all they won't be much of a problem for him to swallow. Better he get some solid food in him, than just be on a liquid diet. He'd lose too much muscle mass after everything we've been through." I scowled at that. My thoughts turned towards Nicholas and Juniper. "His… Hmm. I don't even want to call them parents… Fuckin' surrogates really," I muttered disdainfully. Ember hummed in agreement and cut into her eggs. I pinched myself when I remembered there were children present that did not need to hear such things.

"Calm down, Jeje, eat your breakfast, and we can think of something once Jaune and the others get up." Ember nibbled on a piece of bacon and put on a thoughtful face.

"Hmmm… What time is it?" I asked.

"Seven fifty. I need to be at work by nine, so I have time."

"Let's wake Jaune and get some food in him. He needs his meds too, it's been almost five hours since his last dose."

"That sounds good, let me wash my hands and we can get him situated."

I got up and went to my room and let Ember do what she needed to get ready to wake Jaune. I went to my closet and dug through it before I found a clean set of clothes. A pink shirt, brown pants, and a yellow hat.

"Sweet Baby Jesus I need to do laundry…," I groaned. I tossed the clothes away and resigned myself to wearing what I had on last night, which was the same thing I was still wearing.

"Where'd you go?" Ember asked as she slipped on some gloves.

"I went to change clothes… But I haven't done laundry yet so everything's dirty or a horrendous match..."

"How bad's the clean cloths?"

"Pink, brown, yellow…." I tried not to laugh at her flabbergasted face, "Shirt, pants, hat… Yeah, not pretty," The green look around her cheeks told me her exact thoughts on that getup. The girls laughed quietly at her funny face and huddled around one of the plates on the table. They had scooped up three eggs between themselves and were enjoying their food.

"By Oum… That sounds horrendous," She snorted a laugh once she reigned herself in.

"Yeah," I motioned to Jaune and we got to work.

"Gloves?"

"Nah, I'm fine," I smiled tiredly and walked over towards Jaune. Ember stood next to his feet and I stood near his head.

"How we doing this?" She asked.

"I was going to ask you, you're the trained professional, I just have First-aid training," I remarked.

"Oh, well, put a hand behind his head and neck, hold it firmly, but gently, and then grab his shoulder firmly. On three you lift him up into a sitting position and I will move his legs and twist him so he's sitting up. Understood?" Her serious expression sent a shiver down my spine, it only made me become more serious, even as my heart beat faster in my chest.

"Aye, I got him," I cradled his head in one hand and braced his shoulders in the other.

"One" we counted together.

"Two."

"Three!" We shifted Jaune simultaneously and propped him upright. His eyes shot open and he looked around the room deliriously for a moment before his eyes landed on me and stayed there.

"Mumphmph…," He tried to say something, but his jaw was taught and unwilling to move. The muscles in his neck jumped and I saw his eyes widen in fear.

"Its okay, Jaune, You're safe, your … father … can't get you here," I stroked his hair while I gazed into his eyes. He sighed through his nose and leaned back into the couch. His eyes closed and his hand came up to grasp mine. I held it tightly and smiled at him. Ember knelt down next to me and smiled at Jaune.

The other girls heard his muffled cry and got up. When they saw us, and what we were doing, they were at first confused. Once they finally caught on they simply got up and wandered over to us. Aurora, with a massive bush of crazy looking hair, knelt down next to me on my other side and grabbed Jaune's other hand.

"Jaune, it's Ember. I just want to let you know that I've taken care of your breaks and fractures. In about two to three weeks, you'll be back in top shape. Jehoshua has taken it upon himself to take care of you and the girls from now on, and I've decided to help."

I shot her a surprised, but not ungrateful, look. My smile grew and I tried to convey the emotions that bubbled up inside when I heard her say that.

"Just relax here, and In a bit, once your jaw has settled a bit from the scare, we can get some food in you. Sound good?" I asked him. A slow, tired, nod was my answer. I smiled and patted his shoulder. On instinct I leaned forward and placed a loving kiss upon his brow. When I pulled back I froze when I realized what I had done. I looked to Ember with wide eyes and a most likely terrified look on my face. The girls looked at me with weird expressions, but they said nothing. Aurora understood what I meant by the kiss and smiled gratefully at me, Dawn sighed and put a hand on Jaune's shoulder. The little ones crowded around us and piled on my shoulders to see Jaune.

She smiled and shook her head. Aurora smiled and leaned in to give me a little hug.

"You're fine," Ember whispered to me. She then surprised me by kissing my cheek. She blushed prettily and got up, much to my dismay.

"Come get me when you can move your jaw some, okay?" I told him. He opened his eyes and gave me a solemn look and a nod. His lips twitched but he couldn't get out more than a slight grimace. I still smiled at him and patted his head before I left to ready the dishes.

"I'll tell you when he can move his jaw, Jehoshua. Go do what you need to." Aurora smiled resignedly at me. With a sigh I got up and stretched.

"Jeje, stay here today and take care of Jaune, you can come to work at the 'pothecary when he can feed himself without needing to be watched," Her words cut deep, but I agreed with them thoroughly.

"Of course. I think I'll order some takeout tonight, if you'd like to join us. I'd appreciate it, anyway," I shot her a curious look and waited for her decision.

"Let me think on it, I have some stuff I have to get from home later anyway, so depending on how late I have to stay open today I'll let you know," She winked at me and walked out the door. She waved at Jaune and the girls before she closed it behind her.

* * *

**Please tell me what you all think of where I'm taking this story... Things are not exactly going to get better, seeing as everyone now has some serious childhood baggage. But. BUT! Jaune will be getting some help, along with the girls, in the form of Ember and Jehoshua. Neither has any sort of psych experience, but both have dealt with abuse via friends and family. They have helped others through such instances before and helped them deal with their abuses.**

**Also, as a heads up... Religion will be making a sort of guest appearance in the future. As I'm sure some of you have noticed by now, but Jehoshua is not a normal name... Hell, it's not even a name that has been used in the last two thousand years. It's the name of the King of Israel back in something hundred BC. And as such, with this hint given. Things are not going to be as they seem.**

** I have left some hints in this chapter as to what I have planned for the future, but things are going to get very... Interesting, before the end.**

**If anyone would like to voice their thoughts on this little tidbit of information I have divulged I will gladly read it.**


	5. Chapter 4: Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

**This is the conclusion to all the sadness for a while now. Things will speed back up in the next chapter or two, but we will be having a little discussion on Religion next chapter, specifically Christianity. I know that its kind of weird, having Faith become apart of a story like this, but it is a core part of my Plotline for this particular Book... And the next three. Let's just say that I have a lot planned for this, and we aren't even a tenth of the way through with the first book. So take _that_ as you will.**

**On to other things. Jehoshua is going to be an integral character for a while, just encase people were wondering if I was going to kill him off soon. He won't be going anywhere for a while, about a year and six months really, in-story-time.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Sweet Dreams Are Made of This...**

**Unknown Place**

**Unknown Time**

**Unknown**

* * *

_In the dark, an image exploded into being. A man with blue clothes and golden hair stared down at a boy in grey clothes and a similar shade of blonde hair. The child grinned up at the man and heaved a training sword high to show how strong he was._

"_See daddy! I can lift the sword!" the boy exclaimed with a happy grin. The boy's Father grinned placidly down at the child and reached out and ruffled his golden locks. There was an odd look in his eyes, but it did nothing to deter the child from his happy expression._

"_That's good, Jaune," the man said, "But you need to be able to swing it around too. Until you can do that, I won't be able to train you." The man frowned and settled his hand upon the boy's shoulder._

"_Aue…," The boy's enthusiasm sank below the waves of his disappointment and he lowered the sword to the ground._

"_Come back in six months, when you can swing that sword for five minutes, without tiring, and I will train you."_

"_I'll go for ten minutes!" Jaune's face shot up with a massive grin. His exclamation surprised his Father. The slight frown that marred his features for a moment went unnoticed by the boy._

"_Then I will hold you to that."_

* * *

_**Six Months Later**_

* * *

_Jaune walked up to his Father, sword upon his shoulder, now Ten years old, and grinned up at him with excitement. The man looked at his son in surprise and tilted his head._

"_Yes, Jaune?" He asked._

"_I did what you told me to!" Jaune smiled brightly. He held up the sword and stepped back from his Father. He held the sword out and displayed his sloppy skills to his Father. The man looked surprised and slightly pleased with his son's progress. But a frown still marred his face._

"_Your form is sloppy. You need to tighten your grip on that sword. How can you expect me to train you if you won't take your own training seriously?" He asked his son. The boy looked stricken, but a bright smile soon replaced his saddened look._

"_Than I will get better! I'll get good enough for you Daddy!" Jaune beamed up at his Father._

"_Come back in six months, if you can grip that sword right… We will see." A dark look fell over his eyes and he turned away._

"_I'll get better, I promise!" Jaune ran off to practice his grip._

* * *

_**Six Months Later**_

* * *

_Jaune stood before a tree, sword in hand, with his eyes glued to the small marks he left behind. He had gotten stronger, better. he no longer let the sword get away from him, his fingers gripped it tight enough that he could hit the tree full tilt and not lose his weapon. He had even begun to damage the tree with his swings._

"_It seems you did what I told you to. But you aren't strong enough… If I trained you now, you'd fold in a day!" His father admonished him, though not unkindly. A dreary look on his face told Jaune that his Father had had a long day._

"_Then I'll get stronger," Jaune smiled happily at the fact his Father had told him he was getting better. Not good enough to be trained, but still better than he had been._

"_Get strong enough to lift a ten-pound box for three hours straight and I will see about training you. Be able to lift sixty pounds for a minute and I shall be impressed."_

_Jaune grinned and nodded at his Father's instructions. "I'll get even stronger! I'll lift thirty pounds for four hours! And I'll lift a hundred!" Jaune declared a happy smile on his face and a bright look in his eyes. His Father nodded and adopted a stern look before he walked away._

* * *

_**Six Months Later**_

* * *

_Jaune smiled at his father, now Eleven years old, and held up a forty-pound box with one hand. His grin was infectious and his twin sister smiled and clapped at his feat of strength from the side._

"_Impressive, Jaune," his Father remarked with a raised brow. "Can you do that for three hours though?" He asked._

"_Of course," Jaune assured him. His smile was tight, in lieu of the strain, but he was sure of himself._

"_Then I will leave you to it. Come get me in six hours," He walked off without so much as a good wish._

"_Six?" Jaune asked himself. He became weary and thought about how hard it was just to keep the box aloft for four hours… Even after six months of training, he would not just be able to get passed that benchmark. the hours passed. Time became meaningless. His arms became heavy. His heart became sad. His sister sat with him, a sorry look on her face._

_His chest heaved, and his back weary. The third hour rolled around and he went to a knee. His arms ached and his hands had gone numb. But._

_But he held on, he stood once more, and he scowled at the weight of the box in his hands._

_The fourth hour came, the fourth hour passed. He kept strong and diligent, he never wavered again. His sister watched with awe as he began to squat and stretch, working his legs to keep them from folding under him. He moved the box from hand to hand and kept the weight as light as possible. He never let it touch the ground._

_The sixth hour crawled by, minutes and seconds felt like eons to his exhausted mind. His body ached and his chest felt tight. his shoulders ached, and his spine quivered._

_His Father came back and looked surprised to see his son still standing, even more so to see that the boy still held tight to his box._

"_Hmmm, you seem to be struggling there, son. Are you sure you have the will to carry on?" He asked Jaune._

"_I-I can do it, dad! Please, just watch!" Jaune grinned. The fierce look in his eyes lent credence to his determination._

"_Hmm," his Father watched on, unimpressed with his words._

_The minutes ticked by and Jaune became exhausted. His arms quaked and his legs began to go numb. He could not feel his hands anymore, the sensation had left his hands and arms some time ago. His chest ached, his back burned, and his stomach growled with hunger._

_Just as last-minute was about to roll around for the six-hour mark, Jaune collapsed and the box hit the ground. His chest rose and fell quickly, labored and intense. His body shook with the overexertion and he cried pained tears at the cost of his failure._

"_That was… Subpar, Jaune. Rest for five minutes and then lift the hundred and twenty pounds for ten minutes. that is all," His Father walked away and stood on the back porch. _

_Once the five minutes were up, Jaune tried to lift the hundred and twenty-pound box for his Father. His arms were too tired and he instantly dropped the box and landed on his knees._

"_That was… tedious." The man turned away and began to walk inside._

"_I'll get better!" Jaune cried out. His despair was palpable and real. His sister watched on with sad eyes and a worried expression. She hoped their Father wouldn't punish him for his actions, nor his words._

"_Then do it!" The man shouted at his son. "Get better! Get stronger! Become someone I can be proud to call my son!" The man spun around and glared down at Jaune with an unbridled rage. "Get off your knees and get stronger you waste of space!" The man stepped forward and slapped Jaune across the face, sending him to the ground. His cheek turned red and a bit of blood flew from his mouth. Jaune did not whimper, he did not make a sound. his hand was clenched against his cheek, and his eyes were screwed shut. He laid there, prone, and in pain, and waited for his Father to make his judgment._

"_Come back in a year… Maybe then you will have gotten better!" The man snarled. "And pick up this mess, your mother will tan your hide if anything is out of place when she gets home with your sister!" _

_Both Jaune and Aurora flinched at his words and nodded quickly to his demand._

* * *

_**One year later**_

* * *

_Jaune, now twelve years old, lifted a two hundred pound box over his head in one hand while lifting a second fifty-pound weight in his other hand. He pumped the weight in his off-hand continuously in an excellent show of stamina. His sisters, all seven of them, gathered around and watched the amazing feats of strength their brother put on. They were both awed and amazed by his actions. granted, his parents watched on in an unimpressed gaze. They made snide comments to each other about their son's abilities, and they made light of his achievements. _

"_Put those down. You've done enough." Jaune's mother sighed. She waved off her son's protests and put the weights down._

"_Get cleaned up and maybe next year, you will have impressed me enough to be trained!" Their Father huffed. He walked inside and closed the door after his wife. His parting glare silenced any objections from Jaune's sisters and egged the boy on even more to get stronger._

* * *

_**Three Years Later**_

* * *

_Jaune, now fifteen stood before his Father. His shoulders were squared, his chest was pushed out with pride, and his sisters watched with anticipation._

"_So, what was it you were wanting to show me, Jaune?" His Father asked. The man lazily swung his own sword, Rufus Mors, about while Jaune firmly grasped Crocea Mors at his side. Red Death vs Yellow Death, the new vs the old._

"_I … I want to show you how much better I've gotten… Um, yeah," Jaune smiled with uncertainty at his Father. The shield-sheath of Crocea Mors laid on the ground not ten feet away, right beside his siblings._

"_Ok, well then, LEt's see how much you have improved...," The condescension in his words made Jaune flinch something horrible and almost cost him his hand when his Father took advantage of it. Jaune brought his sword up and braced himself as well as he could. The red blade of Rufus hammered down into Crocea and sent a reverberation down the blade so strong that Jaune almost dropped the sword in surprise. The young man was sent to his knees and was unable to move as his Father pushed down with all his weight against Crocea Mors. _

_Just as soon as the bout had started, it was over. Jaune was pushed to the ground on his back, and his Father stood over him with a look of pure disdain cut into his stone-like face._

"_Pitiful," the Arc Patriarch sneered at his son. "You wanted to show me how strong you've become? Well, it seems you've done fuck-all! You're as weak now as you were five years ago! Nothing has changed!" The man spat on the ground at Jaune's feet. "Weak, undisciplined… You have nothing that I could work with. You're better off finding some wench and furthering our bloodline than going out and doing anything else!" The man booted Jaune up from the ground and across the yard. Not hard enough to seriously hurt him, but enough to knock the wind out of him._

"_Hugh… Then… then why did you tell me to come back?" Jaune asked him. He was confused. Every time he had tried to get his Father to train him… He told him he needed to improve… And he had. He got stronger. He got faster. He pushed his limits and overcame them… What was it he hadn't done then?_

"_I hoped you would get better… But it seems that you have only become a waste of time… And my love."_

_Jaune's Father stepped towards him. The man's face became shrouded in darkness and his steps became thundering echoes. the sky dimmed, clouds swirled, and thunder exploded in the background. The winds picked up and cut at his face. Jaune stared up at the looming figure of his Father and cowed before him. He shivered and shook as the figure grew larger and more evil looking. Black shadows covered most of its body and made it look larger than it could have ever been._

"_You think you are ready…," The voice of his Father echoed around him. "You think you are good enough…," a flash of light and Jaune was able to see the blood-red face of his Father, "You… You a__**re nothing!**_" _The figure raised its sword and swung down at Jaune's head._

_The blade came down like a shot of lightning. Jaune could only watch in terror as the tip of the blade fell right into his line of sight, just as if it were coming right for his eyes. __The blade touched the-!_

* * *

"Jaune!" Jehoshua screamed. He gripped Jaune's shoulders and held him firm. He watched with fear-ridden eyes as his terror-racked friend thrashed on the couch.

"Jaune! It's okay! Come on Jaune! It's okay!" Jehoshua whispered heatedly into Jaune's ear. He gripped him surely to his chest and soothingly rubbed circles into his back. Jaune's sisters watched from behind him as he comforted their brother. Ember held Amber in her arms and whispered assurances to the little girl that her Brother was going to be okay.

"I'm here Jaune, nothing is going to hurt you," Jehoshua promised. "I won't let anything hurt you, Never again," He screwed his eyes closed and squeezed Jaune against his chest even harder.

The group watched as Jaune's shakes seemed to begin petering out, but he did not wake up. Ember became worried, more so than before and tried to get Joshua's attention. That was when the brown-haired man did something that none of them had ever expected.

He began to sing. And not just any song, but a lullaby… A very… Special lullaby.

"_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine_

_You make me happy when skies are gray_

_You'll never know dear, how much I love you_

_Please don't take my sunshine away"_

_"The other night dear, as I lay sleeping_

_I dreamt I held you in my arms_

_And now that you're here, my dreams are waking_

_And I will keep you from all harm_"

Jehoshua began to get teary-eyed at that time, as soon as the words 'and I will keep you from all harm' escaped his lips, silent tears began to stream down his face. His words became wet and emotional. The girls, having never heard a song like it before, were all moved to tears as well.

"_You are my sunshine, my only sunshine_

_You make me happy when skies are gray_

_You'll never know dear, how much I love you_

_But, please don't take my sunshine away"_

_"I'll always love you, and make you happy_

_I'll pick you up when, when you've fallen down_

_You turn the sky blue when it is raining_

_You always keep the sunshine around__"_

_"You are my sunshine, my only sunshin__e_

_You make me happy when skies are gray_

_You'll never know dear, how much I love you_

_Please don't take my sunshine away_"

At the end of the song, when no eyes were dry and everyone had huddled around Jehoshua and Jaune, that things got better. Jaune stopped thrashing, his breathing evened out, and he calmed down. Jehoshua sobbed into Jaune's chest and whispered words that made no sense to the girls.

He apologized, over and over again, continuously, for letting Jaune down. His body shook with silent sobs and he rested his head against the boy's chest. Soon after he began to mention names of people that none of them had ever heard of, Ezekiel and Herod. He said things about never saying sorry or about never seeing them again.

Either way, it made the girls feel for the man. They clustered around him and hugged him. The youngest, Topaz and Amber, crawled into his lap and helped him hug Jaune. It made the man laugh a wet, tearful laugh before he pulled them into a hug of their own. He smiled and thanked each of them before he told them that they should be watching over Jaune. he was the one that was beaten and bruised, not him.

Jehoshua walked away from Jaune, from his sisters, and into the kitchen. He sat at the table and placed his face into the palms of his hands. He berated himself for becoming so overly emotional.

"Jehoshua?" a song like voice asked from behind him. He knew who it belonged to, which cobalt-eyed beauty had wormed her way into his heart. "Are you doing alright?" Ember asked. She walked over to the other side of the table and pulled out the chair. She sat down and put a hand over his own.

He twisted his hand around and took a soft hold of her own. His fingers trembled in her grasp and felt fragile and soft. A hard contrast to how he usually was in her presence. It was not an unwelcome sight, but a worrying one nonetheless.

"Who... Who were they? Jehoshua?"

"My brothers. I… I'm an older sibling, like Jaune. I had two younger brothers, Ezekiel and Herod. I pretty much raised them from birth because of my parents' hectic work schedule… Five months ago I lost every one of them. My brothers, my parents, my entire family… Gone. I'm it," Jehoshua looked up from his hands to stare Ember in the eye. His face was swollen and his lips quivered. His whispered words carried such a weight that the young woman felt her heartache for her friend.

"I… I'm so, so _sorry_," Ember choked out. Her hands curled around his and took a firm hold. He smiled sadly at her and shook his head.

"What's done is done, and there is nothing I can ever do to change it. It's just… Seeing Jaune, like this," Jehoshua jerked his chin at the couch, "it makes me remember my family. I came to terms with their _deaths_ a while ago, but being around Jaune, all the girls, and you," Jehoshua looked her in the eye for a brief moment, "It makes it easy to remember the old times, the good. I remember everything my mom used to do to help me sleep when I was little. She used to sing me that song when I was little, and it'd put my siblings and me right to sleep every time."

Jehoshua sighed and used the heel of his palm to rub the tears from his eyes. He smiled weakly at her and ran a hand down one side of his face.

"Just singing that song reminded me of old times, and, well, you saw what happened. I just need to sleep this off, to calm down, and I'll be fine in the morning. I just hope they can sleep after all this too," Jehoshua watched the girls all pile around Jaune and erect a massive pillow fort out of the living room and what extra linens he had stashed away in the closet.

"They're strong, just like him, they'll get some rest once they're comfortable enough," Ember smiled reassuringly. She then leaned across the table and kissed Jehoshua on the brow. Her pink cheeks contrasted against her pale skin prettily and made the man flush. In his mind, she reminded him of one of those Asian beauties you might see on the internet, but far more comely than the more obvious extremes portrayed on the Internet. She was pretty, beautiful even, but not really sexual in her looks. She was perfect in his eyes and-

"Goodnight Jehoshua," Ember retreated back from him, a small smile on her face and a light flush that ran all down her neck to her chest. His thoughts derailed entirely and he tried to pull his eyes away, but the way she moved as she weaved her way from the kitchen back towards his room made it impossible.

If her plan had been to make him forget his troubles, she had done a wonderful job at that.

With his mind now on other things he followed after her and set up a sleeping mat on the floor. With everyone settled in, in their own little spots, everybody turned in for the night. Each secure in the thought that they had each other.

* * *

**Tell me what you all thought of their reactions and how Jehoshua handled himself. Any ideas on Jehoshua and Ember's relationship are welcome. Also, what would you all like to see happen with Jaune's sisters? **

**The Song: You Are My Sunshine, Hound + Fox lyrics are not owned by me. I just wanted to make that clear just encase someone wanted to mention that. I don't make any money off of any of this, and it all falls under the fair-use laws here in the USA. **


End file.
